CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Goaltending is the deep end of the Penguins' prospect pool, without a doubt.
At the top of the list is 2020 second-round pick Joel Blomqvist, who had an outstanding season last year as backup for Karpat of the top Finnish league. After supplanting his team's starter for the No. 1 job in the postseason, he will return to Finland next season for his first full year in a starting role.
Also in Europe is Sergei Murashov, the Penguins' fourth-round pick out of Lokomotiv in the Russian junior league. Murashov is the lone goaltending prospect absent from this week's development camp, as there were difficulties in bringing him over from Russia to participate.
The Penguins will have two rookie goaltenders in the minors this season in Filip Lindberg and Taylor Gauthier. Lindberg made his AHL debut last season, and after a start that saw him be named AHL Goaltender of the Month for the month of October, he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in November after just seven games, and will be considered a rookie again next year. Gauthier was an undrafted free agent signing out of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks in the spring and will be turning pro next year.
Rounding out the group is Tommy Nappier, who is entering the final year of the three-year AHL contract he signed with Wilkes-Barre after his senior year at Ohio State. After Louis Domingue and Alex D'Orio both got called up to Pittsburgh toward the end of last season, Nappier assumed the No. 1 job in Wilkes-Barre and helped lead the team into a playoff spot and into the second round of the postseason.
The Penguins bolstered their development staff with not one but two goaltending development hires. Head goaltending coach Andy Chiodo continues to have involvement with the Penguins' goaltending prospects, and he's joined by goaltending development coaches Kain Tisi and Chuck Grant. Tisi primarily worked with the goaltenders in Wilkes-Barre last year, while Grant worked with the goaltenders in Wheeling. Both Tisi and Grant were involved with scouting free agent and draft-eligible goaltenders as well, with Tisi playing a big role in the Gauthier signing and Grant being the one primarily involved with scouting Murashov.
Tisi spoke after the Penguins' development camp practice on Tuesday and shared his thoughts on the depth the Penguins have in net throughout the system.
"You learn that goalie depth is paramount," Tisi said. "Organizationally, we think we value that quite a bit. From from our standpoint, with Andy and Charles and I, through the organization, we evaluate these guys constantly. We're always in communication. To have the depth that we have is extremely exciting. We just want to help them grow and support them as best we can and let them play their games."
Here's what Tisi had to say about the individual goaltenders:
Joel Blomqvist
Size: 6-2/183
Catches: Left
Age: 20
Team: Karpat (Liiga)
Season totals: 20 games, 1.32 GAA, .940 SV%
"He's just a special guy," Tisi said of Blomqvist. "You see what he's done in Finland. It's been incredible. He progressed as the year developed last year, he took over the No. 1 role. "His skillset as a goal is I think elite. We value that very much. He's got a calm demeanor. If you've ever had a chance to talk to him, he's an amazing kid -- young man, I should say. But he's just got a phenomenal skillset, talent."
Sergei Murashov
Size: 6-0/168
Catches: Right
Age: 18
Team: Loko-76 (MHL)
Season totals: 41 games, 2.49 GAA, .927 SV%
"He's a goalie we think very highly of," Tisi said. "He's an athletic puck-stopping goalie and he had a lot of success in Russia, he played for national team. We value him very much, our scouting staff felt very highly of the value of that pick at that time in the draft."
Tisi added that Murashov is a goaltender with a strong technical base to his game.
"I would say he's athletic, he can move well," Tisi said. "A good puck-handling goalie as well."
Taylor Gauthier
Size: 6-2/207
Catches: Right
Age: 21
Team: Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season totals: 42 games, 2.34 GAA, .928 SV%
Tisi said that the No. 1 strength of Gauthier's game is his confidence.
"I think he has a great skill set, great game plan," Tisi said. "He's a great human being as well. He's had a lot of success in the WHL and for five years has played a lot of games. He's had a good track record. He's shown well in camp, he has a great skill set. He's fit very well with the guys and we're excited to have him as well."
Filip Lindberg
Size: 6-0/180
Catches: Left
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 7 games, 2.76 GAA, .915 SV%
Tisi said that Lindberg is doing well physically as he rehabs his ankle injury, and has a set schedule of when he is and isn't on the ice as he slowly works his way back to being 100 percent.
"It's been tough for him during the last season," Tisi said. "I think he's grown a lot as a human being just going through that experience, it's been a lot of adversity for him. But he had such a great start for us in Wilkes and we expect to see that when he returns. But I think just his growth as a goalie and as a person has been great to see."
Tommy Nappier
Size: 6-3/220
Catches: Left
Age: 24
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 25 games, 2.87 GAA, .897 SV%
"He took advantage of some opportunity," Tisi said. "He was a guy that came into camp in great shape and we thought very highly of him coming out of his college career. He's taken advantage of a lot of the opportunities he got. He got us into the playoffs last year, he won a series against Hershey for us. At his best he plays at a very high level. We want to help him establish his consistency and build his game. But we feel very highly of Tommy and what he's done, the value provided for Wilkes last year was huge when we needed him most. So I think it's he's been great."
