Penguins Goalie Hits New Low Point

The Pittsburgh Penguins are having issues in net, and their starting goaltender is the biggest one of them all.

Oct 14, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry (35) makes a save against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images / Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

When Kyle Dubas joined the Pittsburgh Penguins, one of his first orders of business was signing goaltender Tristan Jarry to a new contract. Opinions on Jarry at the time were split. Some felt he was inconsistent and injury prone while others felt he'd done everything needed to earn a long-term contract with the Penguins. Where Dubas ultimately fell on this spectrum we'll never know, but he ended up signing Jarry to a five-year contract last summer.

Just one season later and the Penguins are beginning to regret that contract. Jarry has been nothing short of mediocre since signing his new deal. Last season was the worst of his professional career, going 19-25-5 with a paltry 2.91 goals against average and a career-low save percantage of .903.

This season is only going worse so far for Jarry. In three starts this season, he has one victory but has been pulled from the net twice. In his most recent game against the Buffalo Sabres, he allowed two goals on the first two shots and three on the first five before rookie Joel Blomqvist came in to spell him.

There's no way to sugar coat this for the Penguins: this is a bad situation. Jarry has three more seasons after this one on his current deal, a deal that pays him over $5 million annually. With how poor his performance has been over the last year, his contract is now an albatross. They won't be able to trade it away and it's likely they'll have to bury him in the AHL or buy him out.

And it's not just the bloated contract that will make this worse. While Jarry's had peaks and valleys in his career before, this is very different. He ended last season as the team's primary back-up, surrendering the net for the final 12 of 13 games to running mate Alex Nedeljkovic. This season, he is more discombobulated and out of sorts than he was at the end of the 2023-2024 season, meaning it will likely continue getting worse for the Penguins' goalie before it gets better, if that happens at all.

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