The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a thoroughly mediocre start to the 2024-25 regular season, going 3-3-0, including a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes Friday. And while it’s good for them that, once again, their core of star forwards is lighting it up this year, their biggest issue by far is their goaltending, specifically, the performance of presumptive No. 1 netminder Tristan Jarry.
The 29-year-old Jarry has a 1-1-0 record in three appearances thus far this season, as well as a horrendous goals-against average (5.47) and save percentage (.836). Jarry has struggled mightily for some time now, including last season, when he posted a 19-25-5 mark, a .903 SP and a 2.91 G.A.A. in 51 appearances.
The Pens were willing to let Jarry work out his problems, but the way he’s played this year – including an appearance against Buffalo this past week when he allowed three goals on five Sabres shots and was pulled at the 11:33 mark of the first period – is, quite simply, unacceptable. And the Penguins are now faced with a conundrum when it comes to their goaltending.
With Jarry struggling as badly as he is, the Pens turned to rookie Joel Blomqvist, and he’s been OK (.908 SP, 3.16 G.A.A.). But because they’re a team that’s built to win now, Pittsburgh can’t lean on Blomqvist to do all the heavy lifting. That’s why it felt like a significant relief when the Penguins announced that No. 2 goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was healthy and back on the NHL roster. Nedeljkovic was decent last season (2.97 G.A.A., .902 SP), and he’s the most experienced goaltender other than Jarry, so we could definitely see Pens coach Mike Sullivan giving much of the workload to Nedeljkovic.
But that brings us back to Jarry. Considering Jarry’s current contract seems bloated at the moment – at an average annual salary of $5.375 million – the Penguins almost have no choice but to waive Jarry and demote him to the American League. No team is going to claim Jarry and that contract (which runs for three seasons after this one), and a stint in the AHL is probably just what the doctor ordered for him to regain confidence in his game and return to the NHL once he is playing well again.
That’s the best-case scenario for Jarry. The worst-case scenario is that Jarry continues to struggle at the AHL level, stays down there for the rest of the regular season, and gets his contract bought out next summer. It would be painful for Pittsburgh to have a portion of Jarry’s contract on their salary cap books for the next six years, but the alternative – keeping him and losing more games than they win – is even less palatable.
The reality is that Jarry has been a letdown since his new contract kicked in last season. At 29 years old, Jarry should be in his prime, but he’s been anything but great in recent memory. And the Penguins can’t afford to have him try and find his peak level while they’re desperately trying to stay in the Metropolitan Division playoff race.
Penguins GM Kyle Dubas gave Jarry his current deal in one of his first moves as GM, and it’s turning out to be one of the worst moves of his tenure in Pittsburgh. The Pens are probably stuck with a Nedeljkovic/Blomqvist tandem for the foreseeable future and Dubas needs to be hunting for an experienced hand in net to challenge Nedeljkovic for playing time.
As for Jarry, he’s become a black hole of netminding, looking lost and unable to effectively position himself as a positive difference-maker between the pipes for Pittsburgh. There’s still time for him to salvage his NHL career, but make no mistake – he’s currently at a crossroads, and nothing less than a sustained strong performance is going to keep Dubas and Pens brass willing to give him a chance to stick around with the Pens and redeem himself.
And if he can’t straighten things out, Jarry is going to be an ex-Penguin sooner than later.
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