Blomqvist has encouraging start in Prospects Challenge

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Joel Blomqvist could very well be the Penguins' future No. 1 goaltender.

Blomqvist, 21, was the Penguins' second-round pick in 2020. He is the team's top goaltending prospect, and one of the Penguins' top three prospects overall. 

This season will be a crucial step in Blomqvist's development. After spending the last two seasons in the top professional league in his native Finland, Blomqvist was at a crossroad this offseason. The Penguins held his negotiating rights for one more season. That means that he could have gone back to Finland, and worked toward having a full, successful season the No. 1 goaltender for his club Karpat. He was coming off of a year in which he was limited to just 21 games with two separate concussions, so it wouldn't have been unreasonable for the Penguins to send him back to Finland for one more year of development.

That's not what Blomqvist wanted, though. He wanted to come over. Kyle Dubas, director of player development Tom Kostopoulos, and the Penguins' development staff agreed -- Blomqvist was ready to come over. 

Blomqvist had played a handful of games on the smaller, North American ice surface before. He had a couple of opportunities to gain experience on the smaller ice in international play, and he played one game in each of the last two seasons for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a tryout deal after his Finnish seasons came to their end.

The adjustment from the larger, European ice to the smaller ice surface is going to be the key for Blomqvist to have a successful season this year. With the smaller ice comes much more traffic in front of the net just due to the more confined space, and having players in such tighter spaces means that plays happen much quicker. 

Blomqvist started in net for Game 1 for the Penguins against the Bruins in the Prospects Challenge here in Buffalo, N.Y.. He played the first 31 minutes before a planned switch at the midway point to allow for free agent invite Michael Simpson to finish the game.

Blomqvist fared well, stopping 12 of 14 shots in what became a 4-2 loss. The first goal to beat Blomqvist was a deflection off one of his own defensemen 37 seconds into the game, and the second tally game later that period off of a tap-in in front.

"I felt good out there," Blomqvist said of his game. "There were some tough plays. I think the puck-handling decisions I could have done a bit better, but I felt good."

His coach agreed.

"He was really solid," said Wilkes-Barre head coach J.D. Forrest. "He made some extremely difficult saves multiple times, there was the bad bounce on the one (first goal). I thought he looked good. There's a lot of traffic there for him to fight through, and bodies around the net. That was good to see him battle through that, find the puck and make some big saves for us."

It was especially encouraging to see Blomqvist not get rattled after that tough deflection in the first minute. His calmness is a strength of his, and that was on display.

"He's a pretty even-keeled guy," Forrest said. "He doesn't get rattled very easily. That first bounce could have shaken somebody, but the way he usually responds is to just save the next one. I think our goalie coaches do a great job of preaching the mental side of the game to these guys between (Andy Chiodo) and Kain Tisi. Joel is good with that, it's one of his strengths."

Blomqvist didn't look out of place on the smaller ice surface. He had a number of big, sliding pad stops, and came out of the net to play the puck in the corners a couple of times. Real, regular-season games will give a better idea of how Blomqvist is adjusting, but this was definitely a competitive environment. At least for now, Blomqvist is feeling good about the transition.

"Actually, it didn't feel that different from what I remember from last season," he said. "The pace is higher and the guys are throwing more pucks to the net. You just have to be aware all the time and read the game well."

Blomqvist didn't do anything too different over the summer to prepare for those adjustments. His main focus in his offseason training was his puck-handling abilities. When it comes to handling that higher pace and more pucks on net than he's used to, he really just needs to work through it in real game situations.

When the Penguins' training camp opens on Sept. 21, it will be Blomqvist's first experience in an NHL camp. Though he's been in the organization for a couple years now, he's usually back in Finland by the time the NHL camp opens. He's looking forward to the opportunity to continue to make a good impression, and keep working his way toward his ultimate goal.

"I'm excited," Blomqvist said of preparing for camp. "I'm not sure what to expect, but I have an open mind and I'll try to do the best I can all the time."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• The first power play unit was Isaac Belliveau, Lukas Svejkovsky, Brayden Yager, Sam Houde, Sam Poulin

• The second power play unit was Ty Higgins, Evan Vierling, Avery Hayes, Cooper Foster, Corey Andonovski

• The first penalty-killing unit was Jack St. Ivany, Justin Lee, Jordan Frasca, Ty Glover. The second unit changed. Of note, Poulin worked in with the second unit.

• AHL-contracted forward Sam Houde had the lone goal of the first period, taking a shot off the rebound after his first chance was stopped. Houde, 23, is entering his third pro season with Wilkes-Barre. He earned some first-line center time last season after Poulin's departure, and finished the year with 12 goals and eight assists in 65 games. Forrest is expecting more strong showings from Houde this season, given the trajectory he's been on since coming into the organization.

"I thought he was great tonight," Forres said. "He did a ton of stuff, toward the end of the game we were really leaning on him, so he may have run out of steam there. I think part of the game that he doesn't get enough credit for is that he's willing to go to some ugly areas around the net. He makes some really good wall plays. I think if you look at the progression with us from Year 1 in Wheeling, he had a really good playoff there, then spent a lot of time with us last year and was effective. He just keeps growing into the type of player that we think can help the organization. We're happy he had a good game. It was one game, but he showed what he can do on a night-to-night basis."

• Forward prospect Lukas Svejkovsky had the tying goal to make it 2-2 in the second period. There was a collision between several players in front of the Bruins' net, and the Bruins' goaltender got stuck out of his crease, then a Bruins player knocked him into the net. Svejkovsky put it into the open net. Officials discussed things over for a few moments afterward, but there was no goaltender interference. 

Svejkovsky played just 47 games last season and was often a healthy scratch. When he was in the lineup, the offensive production wasn't near what it was for him in junior, and he scored just three goals and 12 assists. I asked Forrest what Svejkovsky has to do to be a regular at the AHL level this season.

"He's got to find a way to be consistent shift in and shift out, every single night," Forrest said. "That's something that most younger players kind of struggle with. With his style of game, being that skilled, quick type of player, when it's not going his way, like if he doesn't have his hands that night or whatever it is, he's got to figure out a way to contribute in other areas. I think that's just part of his growth as a young hockey player. We're excited to see more of that, because we like his skillset and what he can do offensively. We just need to make sure we can depend on him."

• Poulin looked good for one of his first real games after last season's absence. He looks fast as ever, was physical, and was going to the dirty areas like the net-front. His coach agreed.

"You would never know by watching him play, practice, compete (that he missed so much time)," Forrest said. "He's just a hockey player. He battles, he's a bear down low. He does a lot of good things out there. For him, it's just about getting back and playing consistently. I have no concerns about where his game is going to go. I'm extremely excited, and I think he is as well."

• This was an awfully chippy game, with lots of physicality and extracurricular activities between whistles. Andonovski was often at the center of it, and he enjoyed that being the case.

"I think it definitely gets you in the game if you're not already engaged," Andonovski said with a big grin of that element. "You see that with some of the guys out there. Physicality is something I try to take pride in in my game, so for me that's right up my ally. It opens the ice up not only for me, but other guys to."

• Andonovski played his first full season in Wilkes-Barre last season, and had eight goals and 11 assists in 62 games in a bottom-six wing capacity. I asked what he focused on the most this summer heading into Year 2.

"Skating's always a major focus for me in the summer," he said. "I have a great skating coach back home, Ashley Jones. She does a lot of work with me, we try to do a lot of edge work, finding ways to be more explosive, stuff like that. Then the regular skill work that guys probably go through. We try to treat it more game-like situations, we don't necessarily use all the apparatuses that some people do. For me, it's not super flashy, not super pretty, but if I can be effective that's my goal. That's what I focus on."

• Not much to share either way on Yager in this one, he didn't stand out but he didn't look bad, either. He had a couple of chances that didn't go in. He struggled in faceoffs against the more experienced Bruins players. His winger, Andonovski, shared his first impressions of Yager.

"There's lots of skill there, lots of talent," Andonovski said of Yager. "He plays a fast game, which I like to play a fast game too, more north-south. He's probably got a little more skill than I do, the ability to go east to west and make those passes. When he's out there, you just try to get him some space because he's smart enough to find you. But he's also one of those players that will find the soft areas and if you have an opportunity to make the pass, he's got a great shot. We didn't connect as much today, but hopefully we can more tomorrow and moving forward."

• Some prospects had friends and family make the trip out to Buffalo for this one. Glover seemed to have the largest group in town, with his family making the two and a half hour drive down from London, Ontario.

• In addition to Forrest, Wilkes-Barre assistant coaches Sheldon Brookbank and Kevin Porter and Wheeling head coach Derek Army were behind the bench.

• Pretty large contingent of coaches and management here. I saw Kyle Dubas, Jason Spezza, Amanda Kessel, Tom Kostopoulos, Mike Sullivan, Todd Reirden, Mike Vellucci, Andy Chiodo, and Kain Tisi here watching the game.