The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed goaltender Tristan Jarry on waivers Wednesday ahead of their upcoming 7 game road trip.
Jarry currently sports an underwhelming 3.32 GAA and .886 SV% on the season to go along with an 8-7-4 record. Pittsburgh has alternated between the 29 year old and fellow net minder Alex Nedeljkovic this year with neither goaltender being able to establish themselves as the team’s clear cut number 1.
The Penguins have allowed a league high 173 goals against on the year, and will now turn to a combination of Nedeljkovic and Finnish net minder Joel Blomqvist to keep afloat in the Eastern Conference wildcard race.
“At this point, just feel it’s best in the long run for the team and for Tristan to allow Joel to come up here,” GM Kyle Dubas said Wednesday. “We think over the past year-and-a-half, with his play in Wilkes-Barre and when he’s been up here with us, he’s earned the right to have a go at it.”
Pittsburgh currently sports an 18-20-8 record on the year, good for 44 points. That mark has them behind the Flyers, Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Canadiens and Senators for the final wildcard spot at the moment. Losers of their last 3 contests and limping along with a 2-5-3 record, the Penguins are clearly hoping that turning to a young net minder will yield similar results to what Ottawa has seen since giving the reins to Leevi Merilainen earlier this month.
Since January 11th, Merilainen has a perfect 3-0 record with 2 shutouts along the way to buoy Ottawa back into the thick of the playoff mix.
While Blomqvist will get every opportunity to seize the starting role and run with it, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan hasn’t ruled out a return later this season for Jarry. “I don’t think you make the All-Star team twice if you don’t have a certain level of talent and you’re not capable of making timely saves,” Sullivan said. “So, I know that Tristan has it. I believe to my core that he’s an NHL goaltender.”
It will be a costly move for the Pittsburgh front office to stomach, but it would also be surprising to see another NHL team claim Jarry based on his recent run of form and price tag. Only 18 months prior, Dubas signed the former 2nd round pick to a year deal featuring a $5.375M AAV.
Pittsburgh will kick off their road trip with a Friday January 17th showdown with the Buffalo Sabres.
Photo: Michael Miller. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.