Tim Benz: Quick return to Pittsburgh keeps 'emotions' at the surface for Tristan Jarry

When goaltender Tristan Jarry spoke with reporters in front of an Edmonton Oilers backdrop Monday, the point was driven home.

He’s here in Pittsburgh, but not as a Penguin.

Already.

Less than a week after being traded away from the Penguins.

Now he is expected to start against his longtime former team in just his second game as an Oiler.

Here. In the only NHL arena he has ever called home. Against the only organization that he ever called “us” or “we.”

“It’s obviously a lot of emotions,” Jarry said. “Putting on a different jersey for the first time was a little weird.”

It’s always been tough to detect those “emotions” in interactions with Jarry. Win or lose, he usually had a similar tone to his voice, a consistent outward demeanor, and a personality that was always cooperative, but with the door only partially open.

You could always count on a soundbite, but not often a long one. Not robotic. But clearly holding back on how much depth to his personality he desired to show.

Often just a three-quarters smile in victory, but rarely a full grimace in defeat.

During the eight-minute interview session Tuesday, though, you could hear it, see it.

Mixed with smiles and enthusiasm when discussing his new team, there was a little quaver in the voice, a little more melancholy in his responses. Jarry was pretty easy to read.

The 30-year-old sounded like a guy who wanted to spend the next 30 years here as well.

"It’s a special group & I am excited to be a part of it."#Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry addresses the media ahead of his return to Pittsburgh.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/9W6eyaC2XI

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 15, 2025

“I always thought that I would never play for another team,” Jarry said. “I had a contract with the Penguins and was traded to Edmonton, but that was always my thought. I loved Pittsburgh.”

It was evident in his tone that even upon his departure, Jarry was still carrying a lot of the weight that he was burdened with here.

He was saddled with keeping the Pens’ winning tradition going, but ultimately became one of the faces of the decline. A goalie who was good enough to make All-Star games. But not one good enough to continue the lineage of playoff success carved out by Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury.

“I put my heart and soul into this team. I hope (the fans) understand that,” Jarry said. “You never want to go into a game thinking you’re going to lose. You want to win every single game that you step foot on the ice. That’s all I wanted to do, is win in Pittsburgh.”

There were failures associated with the back half of Jarry’s Penguins career. It’s one that started when he was drafted by the organization a dozen years ago. It’s one that never saw advancement beyond the first round of the playoffs with him in net and an inability to even qualify during the past three years.

Those shortcomings will always be linked to his inconsistencies, injuries and developmental stagnation over the years.

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But that wasn’t a matter of “want to.” It was a matter of “how to.” Unfortunately, neither the organization nor Jarry himself could make it happen here despite repeated efforts to do so.

Up to and including inking him to the $26.9 million contract that made the prospect of keeping him here untenable.

“I loved living (in Pittsburgh). I loved the city and everything that came with putting that jersey on. It was very special to me,” Jarry continued. “It was anything and everything I could have imagined.”

This trade should be good for Jarry, though. The Oilers have won the Western Conference the past two years. It’s probably best to go to a new city with a fresh start. It’s a town he knows, having played junior hockey there with the Edmonton Oil Kings. It’s a franchise he watched often as a kid in Western Canada — a lineage of goalies he remembers.

“Dwayne Roloson. (Nikolai) Khabibulin. Tommy Salo. There’s a lot of different goalies that I got to see,” Jarry said. “Watched a lot of games just playing with the Oil Kings. You got to go to a lot of games just sharing the rink. You become a fan from that.”

Most importantly, Jarry is now in a place that — if he plays well — the narrative will be about how he can make things better. Here, it was always about how he was a big part of why things had gotten worse.

Granted, that’s a story that can’t write itself. Jarry has to author it on his own with consistently good play, especially in the postseason.

For his sake, hopefully the conclusion to that story is different — and happier — than the end was here.

Watch: Tim Benz and Mark Madden host “Madden-Benz: Unfiltered!”