With the NHL season over, we like to dive into stats to pass the time. Here's the latest interesting Penguins analysis:
• Murray vs. Binnington: St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington is getting much-deserved praise as a rookie who lifted the franchise out of last place and then lifted the Stanley Cup, too. Binnington won 16 games during that successful Cup quest, which established a record for a rookie goaltender. Matt Murray, Ron Hextall, Patrick Roy and Cam Ward had all previously shared the rookie record with 15 victories. But don't despair, Penguins fans: You can still make the case that Murray was the better Stanley Cup-winning rookie netminder. Binnington's adjusted save rate was actually 3 percent worse than the league average in the playoffs. As a rookie, Murray's adjusted save rate was 8 percent better than average in the playoffs. Roy (26 percent better than average), meanwhile, can claim supremacy over both of them.
• Jarry's future: Speaking of young goalies, Tristan Jarry's tenure with the Penguins could be coming to a close. Once considered the team's heir-apparent to Marc-Andre Fleury, Jarry is now No. 3 on the depth chart. Murray is the clear franchise goalie, and Casey DeSmith established himself as a quality backup, earning a longer-term contract extension. That leaves Jarry, who can't be sent to the AHL again without clearing waivers, in the lurch. He's coming off a 2018-19 season at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in which he posted a .915 save percentage, which ranked 12th out of 40 qualified goalies. During his brief NHL career (29 games, 26 starts), Jarry's adjusted save rate has been 4 percent worse than average. If he's going to carve out a lengthy career, he'll have to improve his work against top-tier scoring opportunities. Jarry has a .796 save percentage against high-danger scoring chances, which are those with the highest odds of becoming a goal based on shot location, shot type, and odd-man scoring situations. That's the fifth-lowest high-danger save rate among 77 goalies with at least 1,000 minutes played in five-on-five play since the start of the 2016-17 season.
• Best of the best: There won't be any parades and beer-chugging on duck boats this summer -- at least not those related to another Penguins Stanley Cup victory -- but fans can take solace in knowing that they're still tied with the Oilers for the most titles among non-Original Six franchises. So, which of the Penguins' five Stanley Cup-winning teams was the best? There's no bad answer here. But let's turn to Hockey Reference's Simple Rating System (SRS) to give us a more objective measure. SRS is a team rating system that takes into account average goal differential and strength of schedule. According to that metric, the 2016-17 team (0.59 SRS) can make a claim as the best of the best. The 1991-92 Pens come in second (0.52), followed by the 2015-16 (0.5), 1990-91 (0.42) and 2008-09 (0.28) squads. Those titles are oh-so-sweet. And yet, many fans still regret that the 1992-93 powerhouse Penguins came up short. Those '92-93 Pens have the highest SRS (1.23) in franchise history, and it's not even close.