Panthers Ink Clemmensen To 3-Year Deal

Scott Clemmensen

Goalie Scott Clemmensen, who won 25 games last season for the Devils while filling in for Martin Brodeur and was also a Masterton Trophy nominee, was signed Wednesday by the Panthers to a three-year deal.

Clemmensen stepped in after Brodeur underwent elbow surgery and played 40 games, going 25-13-1 with a 2.39 goals against average, .917 save percentage and two shutouts. Before last season, Clemmensen played only 28 games over parts of five NHL seasons.

The 31-year-old, Des Moines, Iowa native wasn’t supposed to be Brodeur’s backup last season, that role going  to Kevin Weekes. But when the Devils went 1-5 after Brodeur went down, Clemmensen stepped in and carried the Devils.

Clemmensen will head into camp with the Panthers as the No. 2 goalie behind Tomas Vokoun. Craig Anderson, last year’s backup, signed as an unrestricted free agent Wednesday with Colorado.

Drafted by New Jersey in the eighth-round (215th overall) of the 1997 Entry Draft, Clemmensen spent four years at Boston College before getting his first NHL experience in 2000-01. He was signed as a free agent by the Maple Leafs in 2007 before signing with the Devils again as a free agent last summer.

Clemmensen told the New York Post earlier this year he thought he might have played his last NHL game with Toronto in 2008. “I pretty much expected to be the whole year in the minors,” he said of last season with New Jersey. “But I knew they’d call me up and use me if something happened.”

At Boston College, Clemmensen was a combined 99-35-10 with 13 shutouts. He led them to four consecutive Frozen Fours (1998-01) and won the NCAA national championship his senior season.