by J.T. Toth
Photo courtesy of PensBurgh.
The Pittsburgh Penguins' 2023 season is in full swing and many fans wonder what kind of prospects the team has in the minors. Draft 412 will review the top Penguins prospects and offer insights as to when they may appear in the league.
Name- Joel Blomqvist
Pos- Goalie
Team- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
HT/WT- 6’2” 183 lbs.
Born- 1/10/2002
Home – Nykarleby, Finland
Joel Blomqvist was selected in the 2nd round (52nd overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. he was considered Finland’s No. 1 goalie prospect at the time and each season was the starting goalie in his age group in International play.
After being drafted in 2020, Blomqvist continued playing in Finland’s top professional league for Karpat. During the 2020-2021 season, he was sent to play in the second best Finnish league so he could get more playing time and went 6-4-6 with a 2.67 GAA for Hermes Kokkola. For the next 2 seasons, he again played for Karpat and put up solid numbers at 6-3-5 with an impressive 1.32 GAA.
Blomqvist had one start for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in both the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. The Penguins signed him to a 3 year contract in April, 2023 and he got some playing time in camp this season. Ultimately and expectedly, he was reassigned to the AHL.
So far this season, he has started 8 games at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and has held his own. He is 4-2-1 with a 2.23 GAA and has a .903 save %. He was also called up to Pittsburgh to back up goalie Magnus Hellberg after goaltender Tristan Jarry was hit in the head with a puck and missed a game. The Penguins have already lost Alex Nedeljkovic long term, so Draft 412 would not be surprised to see Blomqvist at some point again in Pittsburgh.
Blomqvist has decent size for a goaltender at 6’2” but has a slender build and can still benefit from adding some weight and muscle. He prefers to play deeper in the crease and follows the puck well though he does not cut down angles by coming out and challenging the shooter. He does an effective job of always squaring up the shooter and anticipates well, which is one of his strongest qualities. For a young player, he always seems to be a step ahead of the play.
He moves laterally well and is very athletic in net but has been known to be out of position at times. He has the Marc Andre Fleury-like ability to make acrobatic saves when he’s out of position. As a netminder, Blomqvist plays a hybrid style and likes to stay on his feet, taking away the top of the net from shooters. He has a quick glove hand and recovers quickly on rebounds. He transfers quickly to the butterfly on low shots to take away the bottom of the net. He is a strong skater who is tough to beat with a deke. He stays calm under duress and has had some of his best games in the biggest moments. His maturity is way beyond his age.
There is not a ton to knock on Joel Blomqvist, but puck handling in one of them. He is not confident at coming out of the net and stopping pucks, and he does not offer much in passing the puck up to teammates. He has been beaten with unnecessary takeaways over his brief career and this is one area he will need to work on to become an NHL goalie. He does not have soft pads yet and gives up more rebounds than you would like to see. Though he sets up well for rebounds, there are just too many saves he needs to make that shouldn’t be there in the future.
Final Analysis
Joel Blomqvist is an underrated goalie prospect in the Penguins' system. He’s a former 2nd round pick with the athleticism and mental makeup to become a starting goaltender one day. Though Jarry is currently under a 5-year contract, Blomqvist has the pedigree to push for a backup job and eventually perhaps more. It will be fun watching Blomqvist play a full season of professional hockey in the AHL. Could he possibly make Jarry expendable? Or will he make for a nice Dubas trade piece at the trade deadline?
Joel Blomqvist
Goalie
Born Jan 10 2002 -- Uusikaarlepyy, Finland
Height 6.02 -- Weight 187 -- Shoots L
Selected by Pittsburgh Penguins round 2 #52 overall 2020 NHL Entry Draft
Season Team Lge GP Min GA EN SO GAA W L T Svs Pct
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2019-20 Karpat SM-liiga 2 63 5 0 0 4.73 0 1 0 21 0.808
2020-21 Karpat SM-liiga 2 120 3 0 0 1.50 2 0 0 32 0.914
2020-21 Hermes Kokkola Mestis 16 965 43 0 1 2.67 6 4 6 419 0.900
2021-22 Karpat SM-liiga 20 952 21 0 5 1.32 6 3 5 330 0.940
2021-22 Hermes Kokkola Mestis 4 239 9 0 0 2.26 0 3 1 67 0.880
2021-22 Wilkes-Barre/ AHL 1 59 2 1 0 2.05 0 1 0 25 0.926
Scranton Pen
2022-23 Wilkes-Barre/ AHL 1 60 4 0 0 4.00 0 1 0 23 0.852
Scranton Pen
2022-23 Karpat SM-liiga 21 1181 45 0 0 2.29 0 0 0 440 0.907
2023-24 Pittsburgh NHL 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.000
Penguins
2023-24 Wilkes-Barre/ AHL 8 440 17 2 0 2.32 4 2 1 159 0.903
Scranton Pen
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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2019-20 Karpat SM-li 20 0 0 0 0
2020-21 Karpat SM-li 2 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
2020-21 Hermes Kokkola Mesti 24 0 1 1 0
2021-22 Karpat SM-li 46 0 1 1 0 7 0 0 0 0
2021-22 Hermes Kokkola Mesti 4 0 0 0 0
2021-22 Wilkes-Barre/ AHL 1 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
Scranton Pen
2022-23 Wilkes-Barre/ AHL 1 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
Scranton Pen
2022-23 Karpat SM-li 21 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
2023-24 Pittsburgh NHL Statistics Unavailable
Penguins*
2023-24 Wilkes-Barre/ AHL 8 0 0 0 0
Scranton Pen
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