Tristan Jarry said that when it came to where he was going to sign this summer, his thought process was "only about Pittsburgh."
That doesn't mean that he didn't hear from other teams, of course. When free agency opened at noon on July 1 and he was still unsigned, he had a number of potentially interested teams reach out to speak with him. But the Penguins were the only team he was seriously talking to, and Pittsburgh was the only place he wanted to be. He signed a five-year deal that runs through the 2027-28 season and carries a $5.375 million cap hit.
"We've set up home in Pittsburgh, we have a beautiful house, we're in a good neighborhood," Jarry said of his decision in a virtual media availability on Thursday. "And I can't imagine being anywhere else, really."
One of the big factors when it comes to Jarry's ability to live up to that contract will be his ability to stay healthy. Jarry sounded confident that the injury that plagued him last season won't be an issue moving forward.
"I think it's been a good offseason so far," Jarry said of his health. "I think come training camp, I'll be ready and I'll be 100% I'm currently 100% right now. So it's just been working everyday, getting better and getting stronger and getting prepared for the season."
Jarry was limited to 47 games last season for an injury he dealt with the entire season -- he disclosed Thursday that it started bothering him in training camp. When he was healthy enough to be in the lineup, he was often still battling through his injury, and it affected his play. His 2.90 goals-against average was his worst since becoming a regular in the NHL, and he recorded a .909 save percentage to go along with it. He finished the season with -2.8 goals saved above expected, suggesting he underperformed even when you take his workload and quality of shots faced into account.
"It obviously limited me," Jarry said. "Whenever you do anything when you're not feeling 100%, it's tough. It's tough to go out and be your best when you have things that are bothering you every day. It's very frustrating, I was very frustrated a lot of times this season when I wasn't performing and wasn't playing up to the standards that I want to. There were points where I was playing well and then there was points where I wasn't, and I think that that's what frustrated me the most. I just couldn't get consistency with what was going on."
It was reported (speculated?) a number of times that Jarry was dealing with chronic hip issues. I've confirmed that what Jarry had wasn't his hip at all. That was never the issue. Jarry also said Thursday that he doesn't know where the "chronic" label" came from, because he was never told that his issue was "chronic." He thinks it's something he won't ever have to deal with again. It was, however, something that he thinks was unavoidable, and it caused him to change the way he trains in the summer.
"With the injuries that I had last year, I had to adapt my training," he said. "I think just being able to get stronger and fit in a different way has been a challenge itself. Being able to have the people work with me every day, I think that's helped. It's really put me in a good position to be fit and ready for camp. I think that's my main focus this summer, just being able to be in the best shape that I can and come in and show that there's nothing bothering me."
Jarry and his wife Hannah met with Kyle Dubas this summer after Dubas flew out to their home Edmonton to get to know them. Jarry said that he came away from the meeting feeling "confident" in the direction of the team as a result of those discussions.
Another signing that Dubas made on July 1 was Alex Nedeljkovic, who spent the last two seasons in the Red Wings organization. With Casey DeSmith also under contract for another year, and Magnus Hellberg later signed to add further goaltending depth in the minors, joining prospects Joel Blomqvist and Taylor Gauthier, that's a ton of goaltending depth. It's what Dubas wanted.
"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 on the opening day of free agency. "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."
Whether it's in junior or the minors in the NHL, Jarry is no stranger to sharing the net with a number of capable goaltenders, and in his experience he thinks it's something that can only help him and the other goaltenders in the system.
"I think it just elevates your game," Jarry said of having that dynamic. "It wants you to be better and it wants you to outperform whatever's happening. I think just having a couple of new faces in the organization really helps. Being able to push each other and show each other different things will really help all of us. I think just being able to have (goaltending coach) Andy (Chiodo) and having the different outlook of each other will help us and only make us better."
The Penguins' No. 1 goaltender hasn't changed, but the team in front of him certainly has. Ryan Graves is an upgrade over Brian Dumoulin on the blue line. Up front, Reilly Smith, Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and Matt Nieto replace Jason Zucker, Josh Archibald, Ryan Poehling and Nick Bonino. The Penguins have also made a number of depth signings that should make Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the best its been in a number of years, and also serve as good insurance pieces in the event of an injury.
Dubas doesn't seem to be finished making moves this summer, not yet. But Jarry's pretty pleased with the way the roster is shaping up already.
"I think we're going to be a more competitive team, a better team than we were last year," Jarry said. "For all the returning guys, we never had any thoughts that we were going to miss the playoffs last year. It was very frustrating, very upsetting that that's what happened and we weren't able to make it. I think this year it's kind of changed. Things are going to change, and we're going to be a better team. I think that we'll have a really good chance this year."
If the Penguins are going to make it back to the postseason and make a real run, Jarry is going to need to be a major part of that.
