Bartosak signs ELC, continues record season with Red Deer

The Kings announced on Wednesday that Patrik Bartosak has been signed to a three-year, entry level contract. Bartosak, 20, was selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He is the reigning CHL Goaltender of the Year.

Bartosak is 29-24-1-4 with a 2.84 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in his third and final year with the Red Deer Rebels, a team owned by Brent Sutter. In recent years Red Deer has developed into one of junior hockey’s premier goaltending institutions, having played a hand in the development of Cam Ward, James Reimer and Darcy Kuemper.

Bartosak was brilliant in a rookie game victory over Anaheim in September, stopping 25 of 26 shots and besting top Ducks goaltending prospect, John Gibson.

“It’s been my dream since I started playing hockey to wear an NHL jersey and get a chance to play for an NHL organization, and now playing for the Kings is an honor for me,” he said after earning the win on September 9. “It was a great feeling, for sure.”

Bartosak, who has already set the Rebels’ record for shots faced and saves in a single season, recently spoke to Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate about his record-breaking campaign.

“I like seeing lots of shots much rather than getting three or four shots a period. I like this kind of hockey and I’m enjoying it for sure,” Bartosak told Meachem. “It’s my job. I don’t really think about rather I’m too busy or not. My job is to be there and stop the puck whenever it comes my way. If it comes there 45 times a night then I’ll have to be there 45 times. If it comes five times, I’ll be there five times.”

With a contract signed, Bartosak will spend next season in the Kings’ minor league system, most likely in either Manchester or Ontario.

LAKings.com columnist John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor recently wrote a feature on Bartosak, and it’s a good read: Kings Goaltending Factory Readies The Next Prospect

467064891 (640x427)
-Marissa Baecker / Getty Images Sport

Rules for Blog Commenting

  • No profanity, slurs or other offensive language. Replacing letters with symbols does not turn expletives into non-expletives.
  • Personal attacks against other blog commenters, and/or blatant attempts to antagonize other comments, are not tolerated. Respectful disagreement is encouraged. Posts that continually express the same singular opinion will be deleted.
  • Comments that incite political, religious or similar debates will be deleted.
  • Please do not discuss, or post links to websites that illegally stream NHL games.
  • Posting under multiple user names is not allowed. Do not type in all caps. All violations are subject to comment deletion and/or banning of commenters, per the discretion of the blog administrator.

Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.

Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.