Penguins A to Z: Joel Blomqvist is a big part of the future, but not yet
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With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28 and 29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Joel Blomqvist
Position: Goaltender
Catches: Left
Age: 21
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 187 pounds
2022-23 Liiga statistics: 21 games, 6-5-8 record, 2.29 goals against average, .907 save percentage, one shutout
2022-23 AHL statistics: One game, 0-1-0 record, 4.00 goals against average, .852 save percentage, zero shutouts
Contract: Entering the first year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $886,667. Pending restricted free agent in the 2026 offseason. Blomqvist is exempt from waivers for any transaction involving a minor league affiliate. This contract has a European assignment clause for the 2023-24 season.
Acquired: Second-round draft pick (No. 52 overall), Oct. 7, 2021
Last season: Blomqvist’s development arc was always a long one. And given that goaltenders typically take much more time to fully ferment before they are ready to reach the NHL, that shouldn’t come as any surprise.
So in one sense, Blomqvist’s first full season with Karpat of Finland’s Liiga, the top-tier league in his native country, went as planned.
What no one could have forecast was his health.
A pair of concussions hobbled him for much of the 2022-23 campaign. And while it might be a bit hyperbolic to label it as a lost season for Blomqvist, he could have accomplished so much more were he healthy.
Blomqvist’s season started well. In his first seven games, he had a 3-2-2 record, a 2.08 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.
He even recorded his only shutout of the season during that stretch in a 3-0 home win against Tappara on Sept. 17.
His first concussion on Oct. 7 sidelined him for nearly a month and cost him nine games before he returned to the ice on Nov. 2.
Blomqvist was a workhorse after that, starting 14 consecutive games — including some on back-to-back days — and went 3-3-6 with a 2.38 goals against average and a .903 save percentage over that stretch.
His second concussion on Dec. 16 brought his season to a halt, however. Blomqvist largely remained sidelined for the better part of three months and even traveled to Western Pennsylvania for an examination by the Penguins’ medical staff.
Once medically cleared, Blomqvist returned in mid-March and rejoined Karpat in the postseason. Eliminated by KooKoo in a best-of-three first-round series, 2-1, Blomqvist had a 1-2 record, a 3.69 goals against average and a .847 save percentage.
A little more than two weeks after Karpat’s season was ended, Blomqvist signed an amateur tryout contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on April 3. Two days later, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Blomqvist’s only action in North America this season came with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in a 4-0 road loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack on April 14. He stopped 23 of 27 shots in that contest.
The future: Some much larger matters need to be sorted out with the Penguins’ front office before Blomqvist’s fate is sorted out going into the 2023-24 season.
Given his pedigree as a second-round pick and the fact that incumbent Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltenders Dustin Tokarski (unrestricted) and Filip Lindberg (restricted) are each pending free agents this offseason, there would appear to be an avenue for Blomqvist to make the move to North America on a full-time basis and be, at the very least, a backup in Northeast Pennsylvania.
But given that he has a European assignment clause in his contract specific to next season, it might not be the worst thing for him to go back to Karpat with the hopes of being that team’s top goaltender for an entire season (with the blessing of good health).
Either way, Blomqvist is one of the organization’s top prospects and is a big part of the Penguins’ future. But that time hasn’t arrived yet.