Penguins boost goalie depth, sign Louis Domingue to one-year contract

The Penguins filled the spot left open by departing free agent goalie Maxime Lagace by signing veteran goalie Louis Domingue on Thursday.

Domingue, 29, spent the 2020-21 season in the Flames organization, splitting time between Calgary and the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League. The goaltender spent the majority of last season on the Flames’ taxi squad, plus suited up for one game with Calgary and three games in Stockton.

The 6-foot-3, 208-pound goaltender has played 140 games in the NHL over the past seven seasons with Arizona, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Vancouver and Calgary. Domingue has compiled a 58-59-10 record at the NHL level with a 3.05 goals-against average, .904 save percentage and two shutouts. His best NHL season came in 2018-19 with Tampa Bay when he went 21-5-0, including an 11-game winning streak, marking a team record at the time.

Domingue has played parts of seven seasons in the AHL, split between Portland, Springfield, Syracuse, Binghamton and Stockton. In 103 career AHL games, the goaltender has recorded a 46-40-9 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and .903 save percentage with five shutouts.

Domingue did show he could play more than serviceably for a great team in Tampa in 2018-19, so he’s a great addition for an organization that needs goalie depth. Other than Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith who slot in as the NHL netminders, the team only has highly-touted rookie Filip Lindberg and Alex D’Orio for the minor league positions, with most of D’Orio’s work to this point coming in ECHL Wheeling.

Domingue adds a veteran and solid No. 3 for the Penguins/Wilkes-Barre for next season, as the team usually carries with goalies like Lagace, Dustin Tokarski, Anthony Peters, Michael Leighton over the years. With those 140 career NHL games under his belt, he wouldn’t be phased if there was an injury/illness in Pittsburgh that would require an NHL cameo. Domingue has played at both the NHL and AHL levels in three of the last four seasons, showing the ability and experience at adapting to the different leagues when needed.

Ideally, this signing might go under the radar and not really be too often on the mind of the NHL fan, but it’s a nice depth boost for the organization, just in case they might need it.