The Utica Comets’ goaltending picture has changed fast, and not for the better. With the New Jersey Devils reshuffling their NHL crease by moving on from Jacob Markstrom and his $6 million AAV contract, then replacing him with a platoon of Nico Daws and David Rittich while keeping Jake Allen, the ripple effect has hit the AHL level hard.
Now Utica is left to lean on sophomore North American Jakub Málek, whose first year with the Comets brought both promising stretches and rough patches. The organization did bring back Jeremy Brodeur and added Seth Eisele on AHL-only deals, but neither has the kind of track record that inspires much confidence. Between them, they have only a handful of AHL games, and both are already beyond the age where development is the main selling point.
That leaves the Devils with a clear need to add another goaltender, because the current depth chart simply doesn’t feel sturdy enough if an injury hits at the NHL level.
One possible answer is Philip Svedebäck. The 24-year-old spent the past four seasons at Providence College and will become an unrestricted free agent on August 15th. Boston drafted him in the fourth round in 2021, and he spent one season in the USHL before heading into college hockey’s toughest league.
Svedebäck opened his college career as a true workhorse. Over his first two seasons, he started 69 games and posted a combined .905 save percentage.
His role shrank after that, but the numbers improved as he split more of the net in his junior and senior years. He played 26 games as a junior and 18 as a senior, finishing those seasons with save percentages of .911 and .918.
For a fourth-round pick, that’s a pretty workable path: a heavy early workload, then better efficiency once the starts became more shared. That kind of profile could easily earn him a prove-it AHL contract, and even if he never climbs high enough for an NHL injury recall, he still fits a need in Utica.
Right now, Brodeur and Eisele don’t look like strong enough insurance behind Málek. If the Devils want to stabilize the Comets’ turnaround, Braden Birch may need to bring in another young goalie who has already held his own in a demanding NCAA environment. Utica’s rebuild in net may be just as important as everything else.
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