Penguins Update: The Puck Stops Here

As I was reading a review of Penguins prospect Taylor Gauthier on PensBurgh, I got the idea to write about a subject I don’t often touch on.

Goaltending.

Count me among those who were wondering if the Pens might make a play for franchise icon Marc-Andre Fleury this summer. Nearing the end of a lucrative contract, the sure-fire Hall-of-Famer and mega-popular ex-Pen was a free-agent to be.

Given Casey DeSmith’s core muscle injuries and the fact that the New Hampshire native was a pending UFA as well? I thought Fleury might make a nice 1A option behind incumbent Tristan Jarry, similar to the role he filled with us back in 2016-17 after being supplanted as the full-time starter by Matt Murray.

Some (not I) even opined that the Pens might sign Fleury and deal Jarry.

However, any thoughts of a Flower redux in the ‘Burgh were dashed on July 5 when GM Ron Hextall inked DeSmith to a new two-year deal with an AAV of $1.8 million. Two days later Fleury re-signed with Minnesota, also on a two-year contract, with an annual cap hit of $3.5 million.

Barring any unforeseen events, it appears we’ll once again rely on the Jarry-DeSmith tandem during the upcoming season, with 32-year-old journeyman Dustin Tokarski replacing Louis Domingue as the No. 3 man.

Is that good enough?

Statistically speaking…yes. Among the 119 goalies who saw NHL action last season, Jarry finished seventh in Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) with an 21.10 mark. DeSmith finished 26^th at 5.51. (Fleury was 40^th.) Based on a minimum of 10 games played, Jarry ranked seventh in save percentage (.919) and DeSmith tied for 17^th (.915).

Definitely in the upper-echelon.

Still, it’s hard to totally ally concerns about our goaltending. It isn’t a stretch to say that shortcomings between the pipes cost us the last two playoff series. Three out of the last four if you count Murray’s shaky performance in 2019.

Last spring was simply a case of terrible luck. Both Jarry and DeSmith were hurt, forcing us to ride the valiant but overmatched Domingue against the Rangers. The year before, Jarry melted down against the Islanders in his first sustained postseason action to the tune of a disastrous .888 save percentage.

Although Tristan bounced back beautifully last season and showed a ton of guts by stepping between the pipes in Game 7 against the Rangers with a broken foot, he still has to be considered an unknown quantity as a playoff goalie.

Fortunately, goaltending occupies a front burner on Hextall’s organizational stove. (You’d expect no less from a former goalie.) Since taking the black-and-gold reins, he promoted highly regarded Andy Chiodo to serve as goaltending coach at the big-league level and hired goaltending development coaches Charles Grant and Kain Tisi to work with the prospects.

And, make no mistake, prospects abound. GMRH signed a pair of free-agent plums, collegiate wonder Filip Lindberg, who dazzled during his three seasons at UMass-Amherst, and the aforementioned Gauthier, a Western Hockey League star who boasts Fleury-esque athleticism.

Clustered with 2020 second-round pick Joel Blomqvist, a holdover from the Jim Rutherford era, and recent fourth-round pick Sergey Murashov? We’re fairly bursting at the seams with good young goalies, to the extent that Hextall was able to package promising Calle Clang as a sweetener in the Rickard Rakell deal last spring.

A good thing, too, because our depth between the pipes may be sorely tested in the not-too-distant future. With Jarry slated for free agency next summer and quality goaltenders at a premium, the B.C. native’s likely due a hefty bump in pay from his present salary of $3.5 million. One our Pens may not be able to afford.

For the time being, anyway, we appear set in net.