Penguins sign Hobey Baker finalist, Northeastern goalie Brad Thiessen

by Hooks Orpik on Apr 3, 2009 6:46 PM EDT in Pittsburgh Penguins Prospects

The Pittsburgh Penguins added to their prospect depth today by signing goaltender Brad Thiessen, who just finished up his junior year with Northeastern. Being that Thiessen had one more year of college eligibility left he didn't have to leave he collegiate ranks, but then again his profile is definitely at a high point as he's a finalist for the Hobey Baker award as the nation's best college player.

Thiessen, a 23 year old native of Canada, posted a record of 25-12-4 for Northeastern with a goals against average of 2.12, save pecentage of 93.1% and registered three shutouts. Thiessen will now join his collegiate teammate Joe Vitale (think a mixture of Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot) down in Wilkes-Barre for the rest of this season. Thiessen is listed at 6'0 and 176 pounds, a smaller goalie for today's standards, which may be one of the reasons he wasn't drafted in the first place.

As Jonathan Bombulie points out, this wasn't an expected move for the Penguins:

I didn't realize the Penguins were putting a priority on replenishing their goaltending prospect pool. I figured John Curry would back up Marc-Andre Fleury next year, this Chad Johnson cat from Alaska-Fairbanks would come in, and the organization would sign a veteran No. 3 to play in the AHL and be ready if Curry falters in an NHL role. Plus, they took two goalies in last year's draft (Alexander Pechurski from Russia in the fifth round and Patrick Killeen from Brampton in the sixth).

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. This is pretty much exactly what the Penguins did in 2007, choosing to sign a promising college free agent (Curry) rather than a draft pick (Bobby Goepfert) and that worked out pretty well for them, didn't it?

Yes it did, as Curry is now one of the best goaltenders in the AHL and a likely candidate to be the backup in Pittsburgh next season.

I still think that Pittsburgh will look to sign a Ty Conklin-esque veteran backup (even though it's unrealisitic to expect a 2007-08 Conkblock performance). As far as Chad Johnson, maybe he'll start in the ECHL? Who knows.

It's nice to bring in a highly regarded player into the system. Just this morning I referenced the Pens signng a Hobey Baker candidate, and who knows, maybe before it's all over they'll land the highly prized Matt Gilroy.

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Comments

I know it’s not worth jumping to conclusions, but I think you have to take this as a sign that Curry is getting the backup job next season. It may all be lateral too. Perhaps Thiessen will shoot out to Wheeling, David Brown will take a backup role with WB/S and/or compete for the starting role with Chad Johnson and John Curry will take the jump to the parent club.

All speculation of course but it doesn’t hurt to consider the possibilities.

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by FrankD on Apr 3, 2009 6:53 PM EDT reply actions

The Pens have cornered the market on Hockey East goalie prospects. The few times I saw Thiessen play this year, he was incredible. I’d like to see Curry get a shot at the NHL level.

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 3, 2009 7:14 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting. I would agree with Frank; though Fleury is clearly the goalie of the immediate future, having a solid backup is a real concern for Pittsburgh right now. Given the choice between paying a veteran stupid money and keeping a couple of first-rate prospects on at low cost, I’d rather do the latter. Could it be that Ray Shero knows more about hockey than I do? :)

P is for Latrobe.

by holiday park on Apr 4, 2009 12:20 AM EDT reply actions