KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK…
There’s an old adage about opportunity knocking on your door. Another about striking while the iron’s hot.
Is opportunity knocking on the Penguins’ door vis-à-vis goalie Tristan Jarry?
Out in Pittsburgh west (Vancouver), where former black-and-gold GM Jim Rutherford resides, the Canucks are in a bit of a pickle. Starting goalie Thatcher Demko has a rare lower-body ailment which has been deemed inoperable. While the injury doesn’t appear to be career-threatening, the 28-year-old netminder missed a good chunk of last spring’s playoffs and the start of training camp as well.
The path for his return to action? Shrouded in uncertainty.
Meanwhile, back in the ‘Burgh, his counterpart Jarry is for all intents and purposes a lame duck, having lost his starter’s job to Alex Nedeljkovic during the stretch run last spring. At nearly $5.4 million per, a pricey lame duck at that.
Nobody is questioning Jarry’s ability. Even during a perceived down season, the two-time all-star tied for the league lead with six shutouts. It’s his intangibles that cast a shadow…including the ability to perform at crunch time and a perceived lack of fire in the belly.
Might the Pens and Canucks do business?
Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin were rumored to be shopping right wing Conor Garland at various times last season, with an aim toward jettisoning his $4.95 million cap hit. While the Pens need another middle-six forward, and a comparatively expensive one, like they need a proverbial hole in the head, such an exchange might be what’s required to get Jarry off the books.
Tit for tat, so to speak.
And Garland is far from a stiff. To the contrary, he’s a speedy, high-motor (and yes, undersized) player, the kind coach Mike Sullivan loves. The Scituate, Massachusetts native has reached the 20-goal plateau twice during his six seasons in the NHL, including an even 20 with the Canucks last season.
Hardly chicken-feed.
Whether or not the Canucks would have any interest in Jarry, whose contract drags on four more seasons including this one, isn’t clear. Too, JR & Company are said to be high on 23-year Latvian Arturs Silovs, who performed heroically in the playoffs last spring when thrust into the starter’s role.
Would they be comfortable riding Silovs in goal for a full season should Demko’s condition persist?
Perhaps another matter for a team with serious Cup aspirations.
Logic dictates the Canucks would likely pursue cheaper options to supplement their goaltending (such as Nedeljkovic). However, in the not-too-distant past Rutherford traded away two-time Cup winner Matt Murray to make room for Jarry. Most observers agree the pedigree is there. It’s just a matter of mining it and refining it.
In the meantime, if an opportunity to swing a Jarry-for-Garland type deal comes knockin’ on our door?
I’d answer it.
Hey RIck,
I too would love to dump Jarry, anywhere. However, I would never take back Garland in exchange. The last thing this team needs is another undersized forward exiting their prime with only modest talent when they were in their prime.
Jarry is a good athlete, not a good Goalie. He has no idea of how to play the position; he guesses. When Jarry guesses right he looks good due to his athleticism. When Jarry guesses wrong he looks bad. He lines up on shooters bodies not the puck, giving away 1/3rd of the net all the time. He has poor puck tracking skills and is often caught on the wrong side of the net as the puck crosses the goal line behind him. Jarry has poor rebound control and on a team that has midgets for D-men and defensive strategy that calls for the D-men to chase the puck around their own end while asking forwards to cover the net, that is a recipe for disaster. Jarry also has a bad habit of roaming from his net and giving the puck away with bad passes while trying to accumulate Assists or score Goals. He also has, poor mental make-up. Not only does he no show at crunch time as evidenced by his sub 900 Sv% when games were tied or the Pens were up by only 1 G and by his poor play after he plays his 22 game of a season as not only I noted but several other bloggers, but he also turns into a turnstile after giving up a bad goal. He can’t shake off the bad goal until he cedes 2, 3, or 4 in a row. Finally, Jarry is apparently a locker room cancer. Several sources that I know in both the Pens Org. and/or in the League at large have indicated that Jarry is a pompous baby who blames everyone else for his ills and takes no blame. I have even been told he blames the training staff for his injuries making any Goalie coach instruction highly unlikely.
Trading Jarry is going to be tough. Dubas blew it big time signing Jarry to that $5 mil+ contract and if the media is to be believed, it was at the behest of Sullivan that he signed that millstone.
As I wrote, I would love to trade Jarry since he is a road block to real NHL goalies. And it is very likely that any GM wishing to take a gamble on Jarry would want Dubas to take back their stupid contracts in exchange. Not only does the team need to remove veteran road blocks in front of the Goalies, but from the Forwards and the Defensemen. Perhaps the only thing the Penguins do is bury the contract to at least free up a hair over $1 mil in cap space and let Blomqvist bloom.