Penguins A to Z: Tristan Jarry finally realizes his potential
While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 55 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.
Tristan Jarry
Position: Goaltender
Catches: Left
Age: 25
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 194 pounds
2019-20 NHL statistics: 33 games, 20-12-1 record, 2.43 goals-against average, .921 save percentage, three shutouts
Contract: Second year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $675,000. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
Acquired: Second-round draft pick (No. 44 overall), June 30, 2013
This season: Tristan Jarry always had this in him.
The ability to dominate games, command a heavy workload and give his team a stabilizing presence in net was always present. His talent was never in question. After all, former Penguins general manager Ray Shero traded up twice to select Jarry in the 2013 draft in hopes he could one day become the team’s No. 1 goaltender.
Jarry just had to learn how to do all of that.
There were certainly some growing pains throughout that process. His first season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2015-16 saw him struggle badly in the second half of the schedule, and as a result, Jarry made a greater commitment to the off-ice requirements of being a professional.
Four years later, he is an NHL All-Star.
While incumbent starting goaltender Matt Murray struggled throughout November and December, Jarry temporarily supplanted him as the No. 1 goaltender and finally displayed his potential with his calm and fundamentally sound play. Jarry, who is by any measure the organization’s top puck handler in net, was so tuned in during December that he set a new franchise mark for the longest shutout sequence at 177 minutes, 55 seconds. That success led to a selection for the NHL’s All-Star Game in January.
By early January, Jarry and Murray had settled into a platoon, with neither goaltender starting more than three consecutive games for several weeks. The arrangement appeared to benefit each goaltender in that it spared them from fatigue.
But before the season came to a halt, Jarry was mired in a slump as he had lost four consecutive games and had a 4.53 goals-against average as well as an .845 save percentage during that stretch.
(Video courtesy NHL)
The future: If the NHL resumes any semblance of a regular season for 2019-20, Jarry figures to resume his platoon with Murray. But if the league launches directly into a postseason, it figures to be Murray’s net from the start.
The Penguins had appeared to be giving Murray every chance to nail down the No. 1 job in the weeks before the league’s hiatus. And given Jarry’s slide in his final games, that decision was easier to make.
In the long term, the Penguins face a difficult choice with Murray and Jarry as both players are pending restricted free agents after this season. With the NHL’s salary cap bound to remain stagnant or even drop given the economic consequences of this hiatus as well as the 2021 expansion draft on the horizon, management could be forced to jettison one of them.
Given that Murray already has a heavier salary cap hit ($3.75 million) and appears to be line to seek a significant pay raise, opting to keep Jarry could be the only decision for general manager Jim Rutherford given the circumstances.
That would allow Jarry to truly meet his potential as the team’s true No. 1 goaltender.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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