What do the Pittsburgh Penguins do in net?

Following a high-profile signing with the Penguins during the offseason, goaltender Tristan Jarry's performance fell short of expectations, and he assumed a backup role for the last ten games of the 2023-24 season. Many cast aspersions on Jarry and his season in net, but there are several reasons to come to his defense.

In part, the Penguins’ defensive play is a significant factor as to why Jarry played poorly for the lion’s share of the campaign. By design, the Pens defense often takes part in its offense, as Head Coach Mike Sullivan has decreed that defense is best played by puck possession in the opposing team’s back end.

That worked for many years when the Pens were young and fast, but even with aging superstars such as Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, the Pens blueliners fell short in several capacities. First, the high-flying style of Karlsson and Letang rarely helped Jarry by clearing opponents from in front of their own net—a place where former Pens Brian Dumoulin and Brooks Orpik roamed for many years. And thus, Jarry’s cumulative injuries were a byproduct of hits he took with a crowded net front.

So, the team bolstered the defensive core by adding free agent blueliner Ryan Graves to the roster this past year during free agency. Many thought this would be a step in the right direction, but Graves’s play and Sullivan’s philosophy of less physical hockey and “more speed game” clashed, resulting in a down season for the newcomer.

While the Pens do have some really good puck moving defensemen, that hasn’t helped Jarry on the backend. Jarry played in 11 one-goal games this season whereas backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic had 6 one-goal contests, totaling 17 on the year for the team. Close games call for close play and Sullivan’s philosophy and the team needs ran afoul of one another. The goalies can’t be blamed for this. The Pens’ defensive core has no enforcer, and teams ran their goalies too often, facing little to no consequences.

Secondly, Pittsburgh fans are often tough on netminders not named Marc Andre Fleury. Despite being a relatively inexpensive option with a five-year contract worth $5.375 million per year, Jarry's statistics remained competitive compared to other goalies in his price range.

And for fans interested in signing or trading for a sexy, high-end option such as Juuse Saros or Linus Ullmark, be reminded that they salary cap will be prohibitive. The Penguins are already struggling with cumbersome contracts with fading stars like Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, and big moves for offseason targets via trade or free agency are unlikely. In the offseason, the Pens did shed the remnant contract of Jeff Carter, but with limited cap space to shop for free agents and the recent re-signing of Jarry’s partner in net, Alex Nedeljkovic, there may be little or no options to address goaltender in a more robust way.

Nedeljkovic had a great year with the Penguins, finishing even stronger in the run for the playoffs, which the Pens just missed. He played 38 games this season and had a GAA of .902

and an SV% of 2.97. That’s neither terrible nor great but falls into the middle of the pack as pro goalies are judged. But if the Pens looked at his last 19 games in March and April, his SV% was .883 and his GAA was 3.31. In April, his SV% was .889 and his GAA was 3.29. Not as awe inspiring as some may profess. Nedeljkovic did a great job when his name was called to answer the bell, but he did so with bad numbers.

Some Pens fans claim Tristan Jarry is inconsistent at his job, but Jarry in the past 3 years has been as consistent as an average NHL starting goalie could be at the top spot. In 2021-2022, Jarry played 56 games and had a GAA of 2.42 and an SV% of .919. He was in the running for the Vezina trophy. Juuse Saros, considered this past season as one of the final three for the Vezina had 67 games played—which is 11 more than Jarry. But his GAA was 2.64 and SV% of .918.

If it’s just about the numbers, Jarry would be in the Vezina talk after having better numbers than Saros.

Needless to say, while Jarry has faced criticism, he remains a solid goaltender for the Penguins. Blomqvist won’t be ready to assume the net when the season begins, and the Pens don’t want that either. So, the focus for the Pens in free agency needs to be bolstering their defense to provide Jarry with some muscle in in the crease.

Fans waiting for Sullivan to change his style of play will be disappointed, as a tiger is unlikely to change their stripes. But management knows that they need to address losing too many leads in games. By addressing the defense or by adjusting coaching styles to fit the roster the team has today and not the roster of 2017, the Penguins might have made the playoffs this past season.