Red Wings sign Matej Machovsky to entry-level contract

Photo via @DetroitRedWings

The Red Wings today announced that they’d signed goaltender Matej Machovsky to a rookie contract.

Initially reported by MiHockeyNow, the free agent goaltender put pen to paper on his first North American professional hockey contract.

A former Brampton Battalion and Guelph Storm goaltender, Machovsky spent three years in the OHL before heading back to his native Czech Republic after going unclaimed in multiple NHL drafts.

Machovsky will likely join Grand Rapids next year. The Wings stand the possibility of losing a goaltender to the expansion draft, but either way, it’s unlikely that Machovsky will see time with the big club as a regular anytime soon.

He managed a .936 save percentage as a rookie in the Czech league with Pizen HC in 2013, then put up numbers of .916, .919, and .925 in the next three seasons. He’s played at least 46 games in each of the past three seasons, so he’s hardly one to get tired and should be due for a heavy AHL workload.

No word yet if he’ll be NHL quality, but this seems like a relatively safe signing for now. At 6’2″, 187 lbs, he stands slightly taller than your average NHL netminder, if that means anything to you.

His career stats can be read here.