The St. Louis Blues have added another young goaltender to their organization, signing Joel Hofer to a three-year entry-level contract. Hofer finished this season with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, and will start a playoff series tomorrow against the Spokane Chiefs.
St. Louis already has 25-year old Jordan Binnington taking over the starting job in the NHL, while Ville Husso (24) and Evan Fitzpatrick (21) continue to develop in the minor leagues. Now add to that the lanky Hofer who has tons of upside, and the team has the makings of a goaltending pipeline in the works. The 18-year old junior goaltender still has to mature into his body, but has high hopes even after a tough season.
The Swift Current Broncos, where Hofer started the season, were the WHL’s worst team and compiled a 11-51-6 record. Hofer still managed to record a .904 save percentage in his 30 starts for the Broncos, though it came with an eye-popping 4.02 goals against average. That number has come down considerably since joining Portland, but there is still plenty of development left for the Winnipeg native.