Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a pickle with goaltender Tristan Jarry. The 29-year-old netminder has stumbled out to an awful start to the season, posting a 5.47 goals-against average and .836 save percentage in three appearances, ostensibly losing the starter’s job to back up Alex Nedeljkovic. And Saturday morning, Pens GM Kyle Dubas sent Jarry to the American League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on a conditioning loan to regain his good standing with the team.
The biggest thing that might need conditioning, though, is Jarry’s mental game. With the pressure of a salary of $5.375-million per season – through this season and the next three – Jarry has to battle through these tough times knowing people aren’t feeling good about his all-around performance. And if Jarry isn’t rapid in his rebound, he may get more familiarized with the AHL than he’d otherwise care to be.
Indeed, if Jarry can’t get back to peak form, he could find himself waived and buried in Wilkes-Barre for the rest of the season. And if things regress to that point, Jarry could wind up having his contract bought out. Certainly, no team is going to pick up Jarry’s salary at the moment, not even if they see him as a reclamation project. Pittsburgh can’t buy out any more players this season – they’re already at the maximum-allowable three buyouts – but if Jarry is not good enough to perform at the NHL level, the Penguins will have to retain a gigantic amount of that salary for other teams to consider taking on Jarry’s deal in a trade. So a buyout makes much more sense, even if it means having Jarry’s money on the books for another six years.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Jarry seemed bulletproof in Pittsburgh. In 2019-20, he put up a .921 SP and 2.43 G.A.A. And in 2021-22, Jarry had a .919 SP and 2.42 G.A.A. So there is some reason for Pens fans to hope Jarry can figure out what’s been ailing him and win the No. 1 spot back. But time is of the essence, and Jarry needs to use his time in the AHL to quickly regain his confidence and be a fundamentally-sound competitor.
If that doesn’t happen, Jarry is going to be a footnote in the Penguins’ history. And if the Pens are going to make the playoffs this year, some other netminder will have to step up, because as it currently stands, Jarry isn’t ready to take on the challenge.
