An admission at the start:
I was a big Tristan Jarry fan. I know he was horrible in the 2021 playoffs against the New York Islanders, but I believed it was because he lost his edge after a late-season injury. I was glad he made the All-Star Game for the second time in 2022 and thought he could have been the Penguins’ MVP that year because of the way he brought the team back from a bad way early in the season. I admired the way he went out and played on a broken foot in Game 7 against the New York Rangers in the 2022 playoffs and gave the Penguins a chance to win.
I wanted Ron Hextall to give Jarry a contract extension.
Now, I’m glad Hextall didn’t.
I’m thinking it was one of the few things Hextall got right.
The Penguins have reached a major crossroads with Jarry, who will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Should the team re-sign him or let him go and look for a goaltender elsewhere? New boss Kyle Dubas indicated Thursday that a decision about Jarry will be his top priority. He said he will look at all his options in a trade or free agency and see where Jarry stacks up.
It feels like the immediate future of the Penguins is at stake.
Goaltender is the most important position in hockey.
I’m not sure Dubas has my cell number yet, so I’ll offer him my advice here. He can use all the help he can get considering he failed miserably with his goaltenders in his previous gig in Toronto.
The Penguins need to move on from Jarry.
It’s not Jarry’s fault that he keeps getting hurt. Injuries happen. Unfortunately for the Penguins, they happen too often to Jarry. He played in just 47 games last season. Mike Sullivan said he often wasn’t right because of a lack of practice time. Jarry played 22 games after his lower-body injury in the Winter Classic against Boston on Jan. 2. He allowed at least three goals in 12 of those games, including at least four goals in eight. As he struggled down the stretch, there was an unconfirmed report he had a chronic hip problem.
Chronic isn’t good, right?
When Jarry met the media after the Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, he said he wasn’t right most of the season because of upper- and lower-body injuries.
“I was playing with a lot of injuries, playing through a lot. So it was tough,” Jarry said. “It was just a tough season altogether for me.”
OK, I get that Jarry wasn’t 100%. But you have to judge him by what he did when he played. He showed the Penguins that they can’t count on him.
Sure, there were a few really good games by Jarry. A 3-2 win against the Rangers in December. Consecutive wins against Minnesota and Detroit late in the season when he allowed one goal in each game and stopped 46 of 48 shots.
But there were more bad games by Jarry than good. He allowed two third-period goals to the New York Islanders on Feb. 20, wasting a 2-1 lead. He was pulled from games four times between Feb. 23 and March 18. He gave up two late goals in a home loss to Boston on April 1 and five goals in a loss at New Jersey on April 4. Worst of all, in the 5-2 loss to Chicago on April 11 that essentially ended the Penguins’ playoff hopes, he allowed two third-period goals in 26 seconds after Evgeni Malkin had tied the game, 1-1.
Jarry lost me that night.
Dubas said he will lean on Sullivan and Penguins goaltender coach Andy Chiodo for input on the Jarry decision. Sullivan has been a strong supporter of Jarry.
This was Sullivan after Jarry’s win against the Rangers in December: “When he’s on his game, in my mind, he’s as good as there is in the league. We believe in him. He’s a terrific goalie.”
This was Sullivan in his season wrap-up session with the media: “I think Tristan is a top-tier goalie in this league. I’ve said that all year long, and I believe he’ll continue to be moving forward. … This year was a particular challenge for him for a lot of reasons, but I think Tristan is a very good goalie in this league.”
We’ll see if Dubas agrees.
We’ll see if Dubas and Sullivan really are on the same page when it comes to Jarry.
I have to admit, I’m having a hard time trusting Dubas. He never did get the goaltending thing right in his five years as Toronto general manager, a big reason the Maple Leafs won just one playoff series — they beat Tampa Bay in the first round this season — during his run. He signed injury-prone Petr Mrazek to a three-year contract in July 2021, then, a year later, had to give up a No. 1 draft pick to get Chicago to take Mrazek off his hands. He traded to get equally injury-prone Matt Murray in July 2022. Murray played in just 26 games this past season.
Making matters more complicated for Dubas is the lack of quality goaltenders in free agency. Does Frederik Andersen do it for you? Antti Raanta? Jonas Korpisalo? It’s believed Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck will be on the trade market because he is going into the final year of his contract, but his nearly $6.2 million cap hit will be tough for any team to take on.
I’m not interested in Dubas’ problems. I just know he has to do what’s right for the Penguins.
That is finding someone better than Jarry.
At least someone more dependable than Jarry.