CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The final years of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang will be in the hands of Tristan Jarry.
Goaltending was the Penguins' No. 1 priority entering free agency, which began at noon on Saturday, and Kyle Dubas addressed it by signing Jarry to a five-year contract that carries a $5.375 million cap hit and a 12-team no-trade list, plus additional depth in Alex Nedeljković on a one-year deal with $1.5 million cap hit. And still in the fold is Casey DeSmith, who has one year left on his contract at $1.8 million.
There were other notable additions Saturday -- building up the defense with the signing of Ryan Graves, and the forward depth with the signings of Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and Matt Nieto. Earlier in the week, Riley Smith was acquired via trade from the Golden Knights. So the defense, the bottom-six forwards and the defensive depth, including minor-league additions Joona Koppanen and Ryan Shea, all appear to have gotten better this week.
The goaltending didn't. And that might make all of the other moves made moot.
Jarry is 28, and will be 33 when this contract expires. He's been a full-time NHL goaltender for four seasons, and the Penguins' No. 1 goaltender for three of them. He's had two regular seasons in which he was a top-10 goaltender in the league. In 2019-20, he recorded a 2.43 goals-against average (10th) and a .921 save percentage (10th) in 33 games in more of a 1B role behind Matt Murray. As the starter in 2021-22, he had a 2.42 goals-against average (6th) and a .919 save percentage (7th) in 58 games. He's also struggled, like this past season in which he posted a 2.90 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage in 47 games.
The Penguins made the playoffs in Jarry's first three full-time seasons. He's been a starter for only one full playoff series, that in 2021 against the Islanders, and he had the worst statistical performance by any goaltender since 2014, lowlighted by a Game 5 gaffe that cost a loss in that game and led into elimination in the next.
The biggest concern with Jarry is his health. It was clear as early as November of last season that Jarry wasn't OK, missing what should have been his starts in net, and skipping morning skates in favor of receiving treatment. He was in and out of the lineup for stretches for much of the rest of the season, and he admitted after the season-finale in Columbus that he was "injured most of the year" and "still dealing with a lot" even as the season ended.
No, it's not a chronic hip issue as some have speculated with Jarry. But it was still one main issue that caused Jarry trouble most of the year. Maybe the Penguins' medical staff somehow knows with 100% certainty that Jarry's issue is behind him. Committing long-term to Jarry long-term after last season is worrying nonetheless.
"For me, it's looking at the whole sample," Dubas said Saturday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex about giving Jarry the contract. "When you go back a number of years, I think Tristan has played the sixth-most games in the league and won the fifth-most in the last three seasons. I think the injury stuff, I don't want to make it more pronounced than it was because even with the injuries, he still played 49 games this year, which is a credit to Tristan. But it started with the freak thing going into the playoffs two years ago with with Anders Lee falling on him. I think it was one thing rolls into the other with it. But he still played through it and was able to play well."
Dubas did take the time to get to know Jarry before signing him to the contract. He recently flew out to Edmonton, Alberta, and spent time with Jarry and his wife Hannah. Coupled with the insight from others in the organization who know Jarry well, Dubas felt comfortable giving Jarry the offer.
"Just the view of of the people in the facility in the room, and then with myself getting to know Tristan, that was what made me comfortable to go down that path with him," Dubas said. "I think it's been made very clear to him what my expectations are in terms of him continuing to be in great shape, put himself in a position to be as healthy as possible and to play the number of games that he has. I was very comfortable that he was going to be able to hold up his end of the bargain and continue to get better for us."
The Penguins still waited several hours after free agency opened at noon to re-sign Jarry. That's enough time that teams in need of a goaltender had time to speak with Jarry and his agent and consider offers. It'd hard to imagine that another team would have wanted to commit to Jarry with a long-term deal and a No. 1 goaltender salary. But if one did, that could have given Jarry bargaining power in talks with the Penguins, and forced their hand given the lack of options elsewhere.
There simply wasn't an upgrade over Jarry on the unrestricted free-agent market. Some of the better options in the weeks leading up to Saturday -- Adin Hill with Vegas, Frederik Andersen with Carolina -- re-signed with their teams, even before free agency opened in the case of Hill. A trade for a No. 1 was really the only move that made sense.
The goaltending carousel in the trade market is sure to take off this summer, but hasn't started yet. One of the Bruins' goaltenders -- Linus Ullmark, who has two years left at $5 million, and restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman -- seem likely to be moved due to cap constraints. Connor Hellebuyck, who has one year left on his deal that carries a $6.2 million cap hit, seems likely to be moved from the Jets as they near a rebuild. John Gibson is a possibility to be moved from the lowly Ducks, as long as a team can afford to take on his $6.4 million cap hit. Juuse Saros, who has two years left at $5 million, seemed like a potential to be traded by the Predators at one point. But Nashville was clearly loading up Saturday for another playoff push, not a rebuild.
In reality, the No. 1 goaltending job should have been addressed long before today, perhaps at last season's trade deadline. That was never going to happen, though. Ron Hextall was fiercely loyal to his netminder and never even considered making a move to replace him. It's hard to imagine that things would have played out any differently under Hextall in regards to Jarry other than the amount of time it took to come to this conclusion.
It's hard to say what move Dubas should have (or even could have) made this summer without knowing what kinds of offers are being made for those goaltenders who could be on the move. It's possible that the Penguins did look into some of those options, and the asking prices were just not feasible for a team that has few top prospects or young NHL players with trade value that could be appealing to a rebuilding team or cash-strapped contender.
The depth Dubas added in Nedeljković is at least some level of insurance for Jarry, and someone who may push Jarry to be better by nature of being competition. It's not clear how the goaltending picture actually plays out. Dubas even mentioned being short a goaltender still, which makes it sound like both Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton could carry three goaltenders -- Jarry, Nedeljković and DeSmith in Pittsburgh, and prospects Taylor Gauthier and Joel Blomqvist in Wilkes-Barre along with a veteran depth goaltender. Blomqvist is definitely in that mix, after Dubas said Saturday that Blomqvist would be in the minors next season, rather than going back to Finland.
"If you look around the league -- I think that this was a great example here last year -- but I think it's something that's becoming more more regular in the league," Dubas said of the goaltending depth. "I mean, there's a lot of injuries in the position. I think the demands of the position, the way that it's changed, the way the goaltenders play, it makes it more demanding. There are very few goalies that go through the year without an injury. And if you don't have the depth there built up and you don't have a system in place, you can really leave yourself short handed."
The plan is to add that additional veteran depth goaltender, "let everyone come in here and training camp and let it fly," Dubas said.
"I think the competition is an important thing for the group as well, in addition to pushing Tristan and showing that we have suitable people there," Dubas said. "I think regardless of what the contract status of the players is, we need to build that competition up and also protect our depth and give our team the best chance to win every night."
There will be competition for some of those depth roles, but Jarry is the No. 1 goaltender, and he likely will be until members of the core retire, or the window to win is at least slammed shut. It's not unfathomable to imagine that Jarry could bounce back after a tough year and have his injury struggles behind him, but that's a pretty big gamble. A gamble that the Penguins took.
"At his age as well, with looking at the marketplace, we just felt that it was the best bet to make for our club at this time," Dubas said of that choice.