The Penguins have added some goaltending depth to their system as they announced the signing of netminder Alex D’Orio to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
D’Orio made a strong first impression in the QMJHL last season, playing in 28 games for the Saint John Sea Dogs, who won the league championship, while posting a 2.40 GAA and a 19-2-2 record. He was eligible to be selected in the draft back in June but went unpicked despite being ranked 13th among North American goaltenders by NHL’s Central Scouting.
Pittsburgh invited him to their development camp back in July plus their recently-completed rookie tournament, where he had a .902 SV% in three games.
As D’Orio is only 18 and is signing out of the CHL, he is ineligible to play at the AHL level for the upcoming season. Instead, he’ll return to Saint John where he will likely serve as their starter moving forward with starter Callum Booth (Carolina’s fourth rounder in 2015) set to turn pro in 2017-18.
D’Orio seemed pretty average. They should have signed Jordy Bellerive. Hopefully, they still will.