Arizona Coyotes Sign RFA Louis Domingue To Two-Year Deal
The Arizona Coyotes have signed restricted free agent goaltender Louis Domingue to a two-year deal.
With the exception of Max Domi, no Arizona Coyotes player gained more fans last season than goaltender Louis Domingue.
The 24-year-old fifth round pick started the season in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons.
Once Mike Smith went down long term with a core muscle injury and backup Anders Lindback wasn’t up to snuff, Domingue stepped in and caught fire.
His stellar play earned him NHL Rookie of the Month honors in January and he kept the Yotes in the playoff hunt into February.
Now General Manager John Chayka is locking the goalie up for two years and a Smith/Domingue pairing looks quite good compared to goaltending situation in Glendale last season.
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The Arizona Coyotes put out a press release with the good news:
"Arizona Coyotes General Manager John Chayka announced today that the Coyotes have signed goalie Louis Domingue to a multi-year contract. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed."
"“We are very pleased to sign Louis to a multi-year contract,” said Chayka. “Louis had a breakthrough season last year and we are confident that he and Mike (Smith) will form a great tandem for us.”"
"The 24-year-old Domingue posted a 15-18-5 record with a 2.75 goals against average (GAA) and a .911 save percentage (SV%) in 39 games last season. Domingue recorded two shutouts and won the NHL’s Rookie of the Month award in January by going 6-3-2 with a 2.20 GAA and a .925 SV%. He set the Coyotes’ franchise wins record by a rookie goalie with 15 wins."
"Domingue has a career record of 16-20-6 with a 2.74 GAA and a .912 SV% in 46 career NHL games. He was originally drafted by the Coyotes in the fifth round (138th overall) in the 2010 Entry Draft."
It is likely that Louis Domingue’s extended run as the only option in net for the Coyotes last winter played some part in #35’s diminishing returns down the stretch.
Once Anders Lindback went out with injury, there was no other option for Dave Tippett and Don Maloney to explore. And they rarely trusted Lindback with an opportunity even before the injury.
Domingue may or may not be a future starting goaltender in the National Hockey League. He may or may not be the immediate future in net for the Arizona Coyotes.
One could surmise that based on Mike Smith’s play over the past few seasons that at some point in 2016-17 Louis Domingue will get a chance to run with the number one job for a time.
Next: 2015-16 Player Grades: Louis Domingue Stepped Into...
What he does with his second audition is anyone’s guess.
The only sure thing is that the Arizona Coyotes are in far better hands with the Smith/Domingue tandem than they ever were with Lindback as the second option.