Projecting a young goaltender's future success is like playing the lottery, so teams might as well buy a few tickets.
The example I like to use is from the Penguins' 2012 draft class. With pick No. 83, the Penguins went with a kid from the OHL, Matt Murray. They took another goaltender in the following round, with Boston University-commit Sean Maguire.
At the time, Murray and Maguire were judged to be close enough in potential that only 30 picks separated them in the draft. Murray turned pro and was dominant to start in Wilkes-Barre, went on to win two Stanley Cups and until recently, was an NHL starter. Maguire struggled in two ECHL seasons, with six games in Wilkes-Barre mixed in, then retired.
A lot can change between when a goaltender gets drafted and by the time he turns pro. And undrafted and unsigned goaltenders acquired via free agency can prove to be solid pickups too, and competition for the limited spots in an organization.
The Penguins again picked up two goaltenders in the same year -- second-round pick Joel Blomqvist and third-round pick Calle Clang -- in the 2020 draft.
Both are still very young at 19. They're both serving in backup roles for their clubs, and both will be fighting for the starting jobs for Finland and Sweden respectively in this year's World Junior Championship.
They're both having strong seasons, though it would be premature to really attempt to make any future predictions as to how they'll fare once they make the move to North America.
Still, it's hard to not pay attention when they have a good performance.
Or when they put together a string of good performances, like Blomqvist has done all season, albeit still in a limited sample size.
Through five games, Blomqvist has a .980 save percentage and a 0.44 goals-against average. That's not a typo. He's under half a goal per game.
In Blomqvist's first three games -- two starts, with one two-period relief appearance in between -- he started the season by going over 134 minutes in net without allowing a goal. That's one shutout, one perfect relief appearance, and then one game in which he allowed one goal on 25 shots faced.
Blomqvist earned another start in which he allowed one goal on 22 shots, before departing for the Four Nations tournament in mid-November, a European U20 tournament that serves as part of the evaluation process for building the World Junior rosters.
Blomqvist started for Finland in Game 1 of the tournament against the eventual champion Russian squad, and made 26 saves on 31 shots in the loss, including this save on a penalty shot:
Blomqvist was held out of the rest of the tournament with an undisclosed injury, and was sidelined for two weeks upon returning to his team after the tournament.
Blomqvist made his first appearance since his injury this week with a start on Friday, and was the No. 1 star with a 25-save shutout, his second shutout of the season.
He's played in a total of 270:28, and has allowed just two goals.
Again, he's young, and hasn't even played in North America yet. It's too early to say whether he'd be more of a Murray or a Maguire whenever he does make that move. But Blomqvist -- and Clang -- keep giving reasons to be hopeful about what they might be able to bring to the Penguins down the road.
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Here's how the Penguins' prospects in junior, college, and Europe did this week.
FORWARDS
Raivis Ansons
Position: Right wing/left wing
Size: 6-1/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, fifth round
Team: Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
Season totals: 19 games, 6 goals, 18 assists
Ansons played two games, still as the Drakkar's first-line right wing. He scored a goal and two primary assists, all in a 3-2 win over Rimouski. His first assist came shorthanded (wearing No. 55 in these clips):
His second helper came at even strength:
His goal was a snipe on the power play, and was the game-winner:
Tristan Broz
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-0/179
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, second round
Team: University of Minnesota (NCAA)
Season totals: 15 games, 2 assists
Broz was a healthy scratch for both of Minnesota's games this week.
Judd Caulfield
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-3/207
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, fifth round
Team: University of North Dakota (NCAA)
Season totals: 15 games, 3 goal, 5 assists
Caulfield was scoreless in two games. His first game of the week was as first-line right wing, and then he was moved down to the third line for the other game.
Liam Gorman
Position: Center
Size: 6-3/199
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2018, sixth round
Team: Princeton University (NCAA)
Season totals: 11 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
Gorman was scoreless in two games. He was bumped up from third-line left wing to second-line left wing.
Lukas Svejkovsky
Position: Center/right wing
Size: 5-9/170
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2020, fourth round
Team: Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
Season totals: 19 games, 10 goals, 15 assists
Svejkovsky returned from his one-game absence due to illness and recorded one assist in his two games this week.
Kirill Tankov
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-2/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Team: SKA-Neva (VHL)
Season totals: 25 games, 6 goals, 6 assists
Tankov recorded one assist in his only game this week, bumped down to SKA-Neva's fourth line. He wasn't in the lineup for the other game this week, and I couldn't find whether he was dealing with something or was a healthy scratch. Believe it or not, it's not the easiest of tasks to find day-to-day updates on the Russian minor league.
Chase Yoder
Position: Center
Size: 5-11/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2020, sixth round
Team: Providence College (NCAA)
Season totals: 17 games, 2 goal, 3 assists
Yoder was scoreless in two games, still as Providence's third-line center.
DEFENSEMEN
Santeri Airola
Size: 5-9/163
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Team: Ilves (Liiga), KOOVEE (Mestis)
Season totals: 2 games (Mestis)
Airola missed the start of the Liiga season with a lower-body injury. His team announced on Oct. 14 that Airola underwent surgery and is expected to be sidelined for 6-8 months.
Isaac Belliveau
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, fifth round
Team: Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
Season totals: 25 games, 1 goal, 8 assists
Belliveau recorded one assist in three games, still on the left side of Gatineau's top defense pairing.
Daniel Laatsch
Size: 6-5/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Team: University of Wisconsin (NCAA)
Season totals: 16 games, 1 assist
Wisconsin's only game this week as an exhibition game against the U.S. national development team development program's U18 team, and Wisconsin lost 4-0. Laatsch was bumped up to the left side of the second defense pairing.
Ryan McCleary
Size: 6-2/180
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Team: Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season totals: 18 games, 1 goal, 3 assists
McCleary was scoreless in three games. He played on the left side all three games, twice on the third pairing and once on the first.
Clayton Phillips
Size: 6-0/195
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2017, third round
Team: Penn State University (NCAA)
Season totals: 15 games, 4 goal, 5 assists
Phillips scored an assist in two games.
GOALTENDERS
Joel Blomqvist
Size: 6-1/183
Catches: Left
Drafted: 2020, second round
Team: Karpat (Liiga), Hermes (Mestis)
Season totals: 5 games, 0.44 GAA, .980 SV% (Liiga), 3 games, 2.07 GAA, .902 SV% (Mestis)
Blomqvist returned after two weeks from the injury he sustained at the Four Nations tournament. He posted a 25-save shutout in his return.
Calle Clang
Size: 6-2/176
Catches: Left
Drafted: 2020, third round
Team: Rogle (SHL)
Season totals: 7 games, 2.72 GAA, .892 SV%
Clang dressed as backup for Rogle's games this week.
