The Penguins took goaltender Joel Bloomqvist at No. 52 overall with their first pick of the draft, and they added another with their next selection.
With pick No. 77 in the third round, the Penguins selected Calle Clang out of Sweden. He played for the U-20 team Rogle BK last season.
Clang is 6-foot-2, 194 pounds, and catches left-handed. He describes himself as "a goalkeeper with good hands and feet and a good sense of play.
Penguins amateur scouting director Patrik Allvin said that Clang "might be a little further ahead in his body composition (than Blomqvist). A real competitive player, and he's a play-reader as well."
Clang was fifth among Swedish junior goaltenders in save percentage in the 2019-20 season with a .913 save percentage. He also posted a 2.64 goals-against average and two shutouts.
Clang is set to spend the coming season on loan to Kristianstads IK in the Allsvenskan league, the second-tier professional league in Sweden.
With the Clang pick, the Penguins used both of their first two picks in the draft on goaltenders. I asked Allvin if it was a case where the two goalies happened to be the best players available at the time, or if they went into the draft with the goal of restocking their goaltending prospect pool.
"A little bit of both," he said. "I think they are both intriguing players. It ended up turning out that both were available there, Blomqvist in the second round and Clang in the (third). We talked about it, and both guys are very intriguing moving forward. It turned out great that way."
SCOUTS SAY
Clang was ranked by Central Scouting as the fourth-best European goaltender in the draft, with their second-round pick Blomqvist ranked as the third-best.
Goran Stubb, NHL Central Scouting: "Good mobility, very good size, and reads the game well. Reliable goaltender with fine reflexes."
Magnus Wennstrom, Rogle BK's goaltending coach: "Calle is one of the country's greatest talents ... Calle as a goalkeeper loves to compete and wants to constantly develop. He is an explosive acting goalkeeper who reads the game well."
Dobber Prospects: "Clang has been a workhorse for Rögle this season in J20 SuperElit, and he’s been one of the top goalies in the league. His stats don’t really do him justice because he hasn’t had a good team in front of him. Clang also doesn’t get much exposure in international events because of Jesper Wallstedt (2021) but Clang is arguably the best Swedish goalie in this draft class and one of the top goalies out of Europe. He has the size needed in today’s NHL, and he’s also shown the ability to steal some games all on his own."
Last Word on Sports: "With his strong, powerful legs he is able to get back quickly if an attacker drives the net and tries to beat him with a deke. Those powerful legs also allow Clang to get from post to post quickly. However, he can overslide at times, taking himself out of position. He doesn’t quit though, using his athleticism and fighting to get back. Clang tracks the puck well and anticipates plays well, allowing him to track the puck effectively and stay square to the shooter on most occasions."
Draft Site: "The top rated Swedish netminder anticipates the attack well and uses his long limbs to play strong down low. Absorbs pucks well, recovers and rests quickly. Keeps his shoulders up to close the space for high shots to get in. Nice up and down and back up bounce. Needs to improve his rebound control, and focus better and not commit early on shooters and his hunches on where the attacking players going with the pass."
