Goaltender Joel Blomqvist, one of the top prospects in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ organization, has signed a three-year entry-level contract.
Cap Friendly was the first to report the transaction.
The contract is slated to begin next season and carries a salary cap hit of $886,667. For the 2023-24 season, the contract contains a European assignment clause which would allow the Finnish-born Blomqvist to join a team overseas should he not make the NHL roster.
Blomqvist, 21, was a second-round pick (No. 52 overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. The Penguins acquired that pick in a trade that sent former starting goaltender Matt Murray to the Ottawa Senators in October of 2020.
On Tuesday, Blomqvist signed an amateur tryout contract (ATO) with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League (AHL) for the remainder of this season.
Up until this point of the season, the left-catching Blomqvist has spent the entire season with Karpat of the Liiga in his native Finland. In 21 regular season games, he had a 6-5-8 record, a 2.29 goals against average, a .907 save percentage and one shutout. During the postseason, Blomqvist (6-foot-2, 183 pounds) played in three games and had a 1-2 record, a 3.69 goals against average and an .848 save percentage.
Last season, Blomqvist signed an ATO with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton toward the end of the 2021-22 campaign. Appearing in one AHL contest last season, Blomqvist made 25 saves on 27 shots in a 3-1 road loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds on April 23.
Blomqvist was expected to serve as Karpat’s top goaltender this season, but a pair of concussions limited his playing time.
