Texas Adds Goalie Depth to a Crowded Net with Tomas Sholl Signing

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

The Texas Stars announced this morning that they have signed goalie Tomas Sholl to an AHL deal for next season.

Sholl came out of Bowling Green like he was shot out of a cannon two seasons ago. He won 14 of his first 17 decisions and didn't take a regulation loss until his 18th game where he was the goalie of record.

This is a solid depth signing for Texas. The Dallas Stars have four goalies under contract as of today (Ben Bishop, Anton Khudobin, Colton Point and Jake Oettinger) and two more as RFAs (Landon Bow, Philippe Desrosiers). Bishop and Khudobin are obviously locked into Dallas and Bow will be qualified and expected to take a heavy workload in Texas. I expect that Jake Oettinger forms a 1a/1b with Bow. That leaves three goalies for just two slots. Either Dallas does not qualify Desrosiers and has Point and Sholl in Idaho or they do qualify him and someone gets sent to another AHL or ECHL team. Jim Nill has a propensity to always qualify players, as he would rather has assets to deal than let someone walk away for nothing. Trading a player for a conditional 7th rounder is better than nothing in his book.

It will be an interesting battle to watch in camp. We know from the last season, where Texas didn't have to make a single PTO signing, that the team prefers to go with a set group through the whole year. This fits that storyline.

Here's the release:

The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, announced today that the team has signed goaltender Tomas Sholl to an AHL Standard Player Contract for the 2019-20 season. The netminder spent the 2018-19 campaign in Boise, Idaho with the clubs ECHL affiliate, the Idaho Steelheads.

Sholl, 24, was the mainstay in net for the Steelheads last season and played 39 games. He finished his first complete ECHL season with a 26-12-1 record, ending the season with the fifth most wins in the league. The Hermosa Beach, California native also ranked third among all goaltenders with a 2.25 GAA and paced the ECHL with a .928 SV%. Sholl helped lead the Steelheads to the Mountain Division Final with a 6-5-0 record, 2.29 GAA, and .926 SV% in 11 games. The rookie was selected to the 2019 ECHL All-Star Classic, named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team and also collected All-ECHL 2nd Team honors.

The 6-foot, 181-pound goaltender skated in one of the Stars two preseason games this year after beginning his pro career in 2017-18. Sholl held stints with the Adirondack Thunder and Steelheads in the ECHL as well as the Macon Mayhem and Evansville Thunderbolts of the SPHL. In his first ECHL action, Sholl was 14-0-3 in his first 19 games with a 1.54 GAA and .947 SV%.

Sholl attended Bowling Green State University and played 19 games across four seasons. He ended his collegiate career with a 7-10-0 record before turning pro