The Penguins’ dressing room perhaps wasn’t overjoyed by Friday’s trade of goalie Tristan Jarry to Edmonton. He was popular and mostly played well this season.

But president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas did the right thing.

At 21, Sergei Murashov may not be the present of the Penguins’ goaltending position. But he’s absolutely the future, and no later than next season.

Murashov has terrific stats for the Penguins’ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club — 8-2, 1.56 goals-against average, .843 save percentage — and has raw athleticism reminiscent of Marc-Andre Fleury. Murashov isn’t guaranteed to be a star goalie, but looks the part.

Murashov hasn’t been summoned. He did OK in a stint with the Penguins earlier this season — 1-1-1, 1.90 goals-against average, .913 save percentage — but wasn’t wholly convincing. Dubas likely plans to keep Murashov in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the balance of the season unless injury dictates.

But Jarry had to go now simply because the opportunity to ditch him beckoned.

Besides being crazily inconsistent and lacking focus during his 10-year Penguins tenure, Jarry has two years left on a contract paying $5.375 per. Need for him faded every day closer to the Murashov era.

Jarry had to be traded whenever it was possible. That’s regardless of his performance and the Penguins’ place in the standings. He would eventually go from overpaid starter to overpaid backup.

Signing Jarry to a five-year extension worth $26.875 million was a mistake by Dubas. But at least Dubas corrected it.

The Penguins got Stuart Skinner as part of the return. Edmonton made the last two Stanley Cup finals with Skinner in goal, or maybe despite him.

Skinner was a scapegoat for those two defeats at the hands of Florida.

Jarry is more talented than Skinner. It doesn’t seem like Jarry is being warmly received in Edmonton as the Oilers’ savior, but he’s a worthwhile gamble in an era where there are no more than 12-15 legitimately good goalies in the NHL.

But Jarry has been a terrible big-game goalie. How will he do in even bigger games?

Skinner, 27, is a stopgap for the Penguins. He’s making $2.6 million on an expiring deal. He figures to share the netminding chores with Arturs Silovs, or maybe get a 60/40 split.

Left-handed defenseman Brett Kulak, who accompanied Skinner to Pittsburgh, is making $2.75 million, also on an expiring contract. Kulak, 31, is a competent professional who hasn’t missed a game since the 2021-22 season. The left side of the Penguins defense has little pedigree. It’s overachieved to date but is fading. Kulak could step right in.

As far as making the playoffs this season, the trade leaves the Penguins no worse off. They might even be better. The Penguins were treading sludge and needed a shakeup.

The deal opens up significant cap space in the offseason.

It’s a win for Dubas. The Penguins retained none of Jarry’s salary, which was initially a stumbling block.

Any complaint the Penguins’ dressing room might have was tempered when Jarry performed poorly in his last game with the team, Thursday’s 4-2 home defeat to Montreal. Jarry conceded three bad goals. He was deep in the crease all night, his trademark when he struggles.

Jarry will be back in Pittsburgh on Tuesday when Edmonton visits. Assuming he starts for the Oilers, there will be a direct comparison between him and either Skinner or Silovs.

But that doesn’t matter. Murashov matters.

The Penguins have struggled mightily with shootouts, going 0-5 this year and losing nine straight dating back to last season.

Skinner is 0-2 in shootouts this season, so he’ll fit right in.

But Skinner is 3-6 in his career and has allowed 13 goals in 29 shots. His save percentage of .552 isn’t gaudy. But it fairly sparkles compared to Silovs’, who has allowed eight goals on 10 attempts this season for a save percentage of .200. That’s right at the Mendoza Line, which is even worse than baseball in this instance. (Murashov has stopped 5 of 5 shootout attempts during his American Hockey League tenure.)

Can’t wait for the Jarry tribute video on Tuesday.

Will it lead off with Jarry’s tragic overtime turnover that cost the Penguins their first-round playoff matchup with the New York Islanders in 2021, or him allowing the series-ending OT goal against the New York Rangers in 2022? Maybe a montage of the six times Jarry conceded a goal on the first shot last season. There’s a lot to unpack. You got the goalie goal, then it’s all downhill.

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