In the movie Forrest Gump, actor Tom Hanks famously noted, “…life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
The same applies to NHL goaltenders.
Take our tandem of Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic, for example. Both have experienced their share of ups and downs during their respective careers.
A two-time all-star selection, the former lost his starting job last spring and suffered the ignominy of being sent to the Baby Pens on a conditioning assignment following a disastrous start to the current campaign.
And Nedeljkovic? After leading the NHL in save percentage (.932) and goals against average (1.90) as a rookie with the ‘Canes in 2020-21, he signed a lucrative deal with the Red Wings and flopped in the Motor City, spending most of ’22-23 in the AHL.
Each has drawn criticism this season. Especially Jarry, who at times has been Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Penguin Nation.
However, a quick glance around the league shows our goalies aren’t the only ones who’ve struggled. Here’s a list, by no means complete, of goalies around the league who’ve appeared in at least seven games and posted sub-.900 save percentages. The Mendoza Line for netminders.
| Goalie | Team | SV% | GAA |
| Ullmark | OTT | .898 | 2.81 |
| Lindgren | WAS | .897 | 2.80 |
| Binnington | STL | .897 | 2.93 |
| Bobrovsky | FLA | .894 | 2.93 |
| Kochetkov | CAR | .893 | 2.68 |
| Swayman | BOS | .893 | 3.02 |
| Skinner | EDM | .892 | 2.92 |
| Knight | FLA | .890 | 2.84 |
| Jarry | PIT | .888 | 3.68 |
| Nedeljkovic | PIT | .882 | 3.37 |
| Kolosov | PHI | .881 | 3.29 |
| Fedotov | PHI | .877 | 3.48 |
| Georgiev | COL | .874 | 3.38 |
| Grubauer | SEA | .870 | 3.71 |
| Silovs | VAN | .847 | 4.11 |
| Martin | CAR | .846 | 3.89 |
As you can see, there are lots of prominent names on that list. You’ve got Cup champions (Jordan Binnington, Sergei Bobrovsky and Philipp Grubauer), Vezina Trophy winners (Bobrovsky and Linus Ullmark) and Jennings Trophy winners (Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman).
Ten-million-dollar men (Bobrovsky) and eight-million-dollar men (Swayman and Ullmark).
Back to Jarry and Ned.
In their defense (no pun intended) our team defense is probably the worst in the league. No matter how good you are or confident in your abilities, it’s tough to tend goal in a shooting gallery. They could probably sue their teammates for non-support and win the court case hands-down.
Fortunately for our Pens, both have improved of late, especially Jarry. Over his last four starts, all wins, he’s posted a 2.75 GAA and .914 SV%. Just as important? He appears dialed in, as if he has something to prove. And indeed he has.
On the flip side of the goaltending ladder? Guess who leads the NHL in GAA (1.99) and SV% (.931)? If you guessed Wild goalie and former Pens prospect Filip Gustavsson, you guessed right.
The same Filip Gustavsson who only last spring was shopped around due to poor performance.
With NHL goalies, you just never know.
Hey Rick,
– Over the last 3 seasons (to date) Filip Gustavsson ranks 4th in terms of cumulative Sv% at 0.918. Only Brossoit, Ullmark, and Hellrbuyk have better Sv% from 10/2022 thru Last Night. Now let’s go back into your WAYBAC machine to when Gustavsson was still a Penguins Prospect, what did I say about the kid? Yep, I said the kid was a stud. I know Goalies.
– Ullmark may only have a 0.898 Sv% at the moment, toiling in Ottawa, but his Cumulative Sv% over the last three seasons is 0.923.
– Jarry’s cumulative Sv% over these last 3 seasons is 0.904 ranking 37th. So, Jarry’s pathos this season isn’t an anomaly but par for the course.
– Ned ranks 57th over the last 3 seasons with a Sv% of 0.896
– The rankings were based on Goalies that have played 1200 minutes over the last 3 seasons or the equivalent of 20 games.
– The important thing to note is that Goaltending is a serious problem in Pgh and neither Jarry nor Ned are the long term answers. And even though Ned has a lower Sv% he is much more of a winner than Jarry. Ned has a record of 22 – 12 – 10 in his season+ in Pgh. Jarry over that same time course is 24-28-6. On a couple of occasions Jarry has guessed right and everyone hails him over those 2 or 3 game spans but in over the course of these 3 seasons he may be the single most important reason why this team is losing. More importantly is that Mike Sullivan went to bat for the loser telling Dubas that he wouldn’t find better and to pay him what he wants (a certain blogger on another site, who shall remain nameless also backed that idiocy – so I have no respect for that bloggers opinions). Which means that the real problem goes back to a coach that hasn’t a clue on how to assess talent.
– Finally, where would this team be right now if the Goaltending tandem was Gustavsson and Blomqvist like I would have prefered, with Murashov in the wings?