What will the Penguins do with 4 goaltenders on 1-way contracts?
When the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup three weeks ago, there was something a bit unusual with the immediate celebration.
Four goaltenders lifted the trophy.
First was backup Jonathan Quick, a former All-Star in the twilight of an outstanding career. Acquired at the trade deadline, Quick already had his name on the Stanley Cup twice as a member of the Los Angeles Kings but only dressed as a backup during this playoff run.
Second, Adin Hill, a nondescript journeyman who joined the team via trade in late August, a few weeks before training camps opened in September. Hill took over as the team’s top goaltender in the second round of the postseason. His career high in games during a regular season is just 27.
Then came Laurent Brossoit, who was waived (and cleared) in November and appeared in more AHL games (23) than NHL contests (11) during the 2022-23 regular season. Despite all of that, he opened the playoffs as the team’s starter, but an undisclosed injury in the second round of the playoffs forced him to miss the remainder of the postseason.
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Finally, it was Logan Thompson, a rookie who was selected to the All-Star Game and was well on his way to potentially winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top first-year player. But an undisclosed injury forced him out of the lineup for the final 10 games and all of the postseason.
All four goaltenders were needed in 2022-23 because a fifth, incumbent starter Robin Lehner, missed the entire season because of chronic hip woes.
A stiff defense allowed the Golden Knights to shelter that motley crew of goaltenders, but Vegas management found effective ways to shore up the position with viable replacements while Lehner — in the midst of a five-year contract carrying a salary cap hit of $5 million — was waylaid.
If the NHL is a copycat league, as the cliche suggests, the Penguins appear to be plagiarizing the Golden Knights’ approach to those who man the net.
After re-signing All-Star Tristan Jarry on Saturday to a five-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5.375 million, president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas wasn’t done.
That same day, he brought in former Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.
One day later, Magnus Hellberg, also previously a member of the Red Wings, was signed to a one-year contract with a price tag of $785,000.
Add in incumbent backup Casey DeSmith, entering the final year of a contract with a salary cap hit of $1.8 million, and the Penguins have four goaltenders with NHL experience on the books.
And all four of them are signed to one-way deals that won’t pay them any differently if they’re assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
Through Tuesday, the only other team in the NHL with four goaltenders on one-way contracts is the Montreal Canadiens, though that tabulation includes former All-Star Carey Price, who is virtually retired because of various health woes and is bound to return to long-term injured reserve once the 2023-24 season begins.
It may be premature to assume DeSmith, Hellberg, Jarry and Nedeljkovic will be with the organization once the regular season begins in October.
First, the offseason is far from over, and Dubas has indicated he is open to further roster manipulation, particularly through trades.
Second, the Penguins are $1,516,842 over the salary cap ceiling of $83.5 million, according to Cap Friendly, though Dubas indicated he does not share that view based on what is planned for the organization. He declined to get into specifics regarding future changes to the roster.
And third, getting one or two of those players through waivers without being snagged by another team is not a safe assumption. Just ask Hellberg, who spent time with the Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Seattle Kraken after being claimed on waivers four occasions last season.
Regardless, the Penguins have no shortage of options at the position. And their recent postseason history illustrates a need to have numbers in net.
In 2021, as Jarry struggled spectacularly in a first-round playoff loss to the New York Islanders, he was their only legitimate option in net as DeSmith was sidelined late in the regular season with a groin injury. While Jarry was diced up by the Islanders, coaches simply did not want to turn the crease over to reserve journeyman Maxime Lagace.
One year later, that issue was essentially doubled. A broken left foot during the final stages of the 2021-22 season prevented Jarry from suiting up to open a first-round series against the New York Rangers. That prompted DeSmith to man the net for Game 1, but in the second overtime of what wound up being a three overtime epic, he tore his other groin and was replaced by Louis Domingue, who became a folk hero for revealing he ate spicy pork and broccoli during a game the Penguins eventually won 4-3.
The affable Domingue’s story was charming, especially after he led the Penguins to a 3-1 series lead, but reality caught up to him and the Penguins as the Rangers forced a tie in the series, prompting a still-hobbled Jarry to gut it out in Game 7, which the Penguins lost 4-3 in overtime.
This past season, no such maladies led to the Penguins falling short in the postseason. That’s because they didn’t qualify for the postseason, largely because Jarry’s play was staggered by various injuries in the second half of the regular season.
Whether Dubas is taking cues from the Golden Knights or just coming to his own conclusion over the Penguins’ failings before his arrival, he sees a need to have a surplus of options in net, even as he invests one of the largest contracts the Penguins ever have given to a goaltender with Jarry.
“It’s something that’s becoming more regular in the league is that there is a lot of injuries at the position,” Dubas said. “The demands of the position, the way that it has changed, the way that the goaltenders play, it makes it more demanding. There are very few goalies that go through the year without an injury. 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.”
Jarry, 28, is a two-time All-Star and clearly the most talented of the group. And DeSmith, 31, has been the team’s backup for four of the past five seasons. During 2022-23, DeSmith appeared in almost half of the Penguins’ games, playing in a career-best 38 contests and posting a 15-16-4 record, a 3.17 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
If there’s any real competition at the position in the training camp, it will be between DeSmith and Nedeljkovic.
In 2014, Nedeljkovic was a fairly high draft pick, going No. 37 overall in the second round to the Carolina Hurricanes. (For the sake of comparison, Jarry was selected No. 44 in the second round by the Penguins in 2013.) By the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, Nedeljkovic became the Hurricanes’ primary starter, appearing in 23 games and going 15-5-3 with a 1.90 goals-against average, a .932 save percentage and three shutouts. His performance led to him being a finalist for the Calder Trophy.
After a contract dispute as a restricted free agent, Nedeljkovic, a native of Parma, Ohio, had his signing rights traded to the Red Wings in July 2021 and agreed to a two-year deal with a salary cap hit of $3 million.
Nedeljkovic, 27, never enjoyed the same success in Detroit as he did with Carolina. After being the primary starter for a 2021-22 squad that missed the postseason, he spent most of 2022-23 with the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, and had a solid campaign at that level. In 26 AHL games, Nedeljkovic was 13-9-3 with a 2.71 goals- against average, a .912 save percentage and one shutout.
As for Hellberg, he is the black sheep of this group in that he is a robust 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds.
While much of the NHL has turned to dragline excavator-sized men to fill the net, the Penguins have mostly stuck with more compact, lithe goaltenders who rely on reflexes over the years, such as Jarry (6-foot-2, 194 pounds) or DeSmith (6-foot, 181 pounds).
In fact, Hellberg, should he ever suit up for the NHL club, would be the tallest goaltender in the history of the franchise. (Matt Murray and Dany Sabourin share that mark at 6-foot-4). Hellberg also would be the beefiest (Thomas Greiss holds that designation at 219 pounds).
As far as his resume goes, it likely has multiple pages as the native of Sweden has played for 18 teams in North America, Europe and even Asia (he spent the 2017-18 season with Kunlun Red Star, a Chinese team that competes in Russia’s KHL) since he first took to the ice as a professional in 2010-11.
Like Nedeljkovic, Hellberg, 32, was a somewhat high draft pick, going in the second round (No. 38 overall) to the Nashville Predators in 2011. But he hasn’t seen much NHL action. Of his 23 career games, 18 came last season as he had a 5-8-1 record, a 3.20 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage.
It is safe to assume he is a favorite to open the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
It’s also safe to assume the Penguins will have far more options and contingency plans in goal than in years past.
“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. “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.
“Goaltending is the one place where you especially need that depth.”
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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