In the wake of Kyle Dubas’ moves this summer, I’ve spend a great deal of time poking at our burgeoning cache of forwards and recast defense in an effort to determine how the Penguins might fare this upcoming season.
However, there’s one important area I haven’t delved into yet.
Goaltending.
How will our goaltending hold up this season? Especially since Dubas allowed established veteran and all-around good-guy Stuart Skinner to depart, in the process committing to a bunch of kid goalies.
Perhaps a more direct question is, will our goaltending hold up? Especially since our expected tandem consists of 25-year-old Arturs Šilovs and 22-year-old wunderkind Sergei Murashov (pictured), with 25-year-old Joel Blomqvist a phone call away in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Although streaky to put it mildly, Šilovs has shone at times. Most notably during the postseason with the Canucks in 2024 and again with our Pens last spring. Not to mention his dazzling MVP performance while backstopping AHL Abbotsford to the Calder Cup in ’25.
There’s no questioning the 6’4” 208-pounder’s athleticism and ability, or his compete level. However, Šilovs has his warts, most notably rebound control and consistency. Shootouts are a well-documented bugaboo as well.
Ironically, Murashov, who many believe is a star-in-the-making, shares many of the same traits. Namely, Fleury-like quickness and reflexes, but also less-than-stellar rebound control. Which would seem to indicate our overhauled defense will be tasked with a lot of “clean-up on aisle four” type chores.
The goalie who may actually be the most NHL-ready? Blomqvist. By all accounts, the rangy Finn plays a calmer, more controlled style than his net-mates. Relying less on pure athleticism and more on sound positioning. Better rebound control, too.
What the Numbers Say
Unfortunately, the career NHL regular-season stats of the three goalies aren’t particularly encouraging, although Murashov and Blomqvist don’t have much of a sample size. In fairness to the latter, his stint between the pipes occurred in ’24-25 when the Pens’ defensive play was particularly ghastly.
| Goalie | GP | GAA | SV% | QS% |
| Murashov | 5 | 2.56 | .897 | .250 |
| Šilovs | 58 | 3.09 | .885 | .482 |
| Blomqvist | 15 | 3.81 | .885 | .417 |
In terms of 5v5 goals saved above expected (GSAE) according to MoneyPuck? Last season Murashov ranked 55th out of the 98 NHL goalies listed with -1.2. Šilovs 90th with -10.8.
The season before, Blomqvist ranked 93rd out of 108 goalies with a 5v5 GSAE of -6.8.
Again, the numbers aren’t especially encouraging.
There were whispers a while back that the Pens might seek to add a veteran presence to the mix by signing UFA Connor Ingram, late of the Oilers. The 29-year-old was effective a few seasons ago, posting consecutive .907 save percentages for the Coyotes from ’22-24 before falling on hard times the past couple of seasons.
For the record, he ranked 66th in 5v5 GSAE last season with -3.4.
Bottom line? Each of the Pens’ young goalies has something to prove at the big-league level. It goes without saying each will need to show improvement if the team has serious designs on making the playoffs.
For the most part, my take on the changes Kyle Dubas has wrought this summer…
About a week ago I posted an article projecting what the Penguins' lineup might look…
If you’ve been reading PenguinPoop over the summer, you’ve no doubt picked up on the…
With nothing in particular to write about, I thought I’d once again focus on the…
Anyone who’s been reading PenguinPoop over the summer knows that Kyle Dubas’ recent moves have…
Unless a club happens to be in the throes of a tear-it-down-to-the-floorboards rebuild, as a…
View Comments
Rick,
Are you really trying to bait me into a argument? OK
1. Silovs is still young, only 25 years old, but he is a disaster waiting to happen - particularly behind Dubas' folly (our decimated defense). Maybe the kid is fixable, but last season he gave up 4 Goals on 6 shots in back-to-back starts, (Nov. 21 and Nov. 29 against the against Minnesota and Toronto respectively - a Toronto team that finished last in their division and was without their top gun Matthews). If the team is trying to dress Silovs up and trade him like they did with Jarry last year, like the whispers I am hearing suggest, then fine, that makes sense. However, Silovs will more than likely get roasted.
As for Silovs "great" performance in the playoffs, Philadelphia was 21st in the league in scoring and only managed 5 Goals on 91 shots across a 4 game sweep of the Canes. The Vezina - like Goalie who stoned the Flyers with a 0.945 Sv% is the same Goalie that got chased from the Vegas series and only managed a 0.897 Sv% against the 3 other teams they faced in the playoffs. Fred Anderson 0.945% Sv% performance was better than SIlovs 0.939%. Those numbers were not reflective of stellar Goaltending but pathetic shooters.
There are always at least two values in every equation and that is what causes so many gaffes. Way too many GMs, Coaches, Sports Analysts, and Fans only focus on one of the values in the equation, as if the player in question was skating in a vacuum.
Silovs is bad, real bad.
2. Murashov does have high ceiling due to his great athleticism. However, not only does he give up rebound, he has happy feet and tends to over-react to plays, taking himself out of the play, requiring a stunning highlight real save. The combination of taking himself out of the play and/or giving up fat rebounds while having enough athleticism to cover-up his own mistakes makes him a centerpiece for marketing. Less than sophisticated fans will turn out in droves to watch the kid flash the leather during the game and then tune into Sports Center to see him on their top 10 plays of the night before.
As for the big question you asked, will Murashov be able to thrive or simply just survive behind the wreckage of a defense contrived by Dubas' remains to be seen. I won't commit one way or the other on that note, I will simply say that the ersatz defense assembled by our HoHO should give Murashov ample opportunities to make Sports Centers' Top 10 ever game he plays.
3. Blomqvist - I really wish he would get traded so he would be able to get his chance. Blomqvist has the highest basement, therefore he stands the best chance of survival this season. one thing you neglected to talk about when discussing Blomqvist is that he out played all other Penguins' Goalies in both of these last two preseasons but got injured last season and was completely disrespected by Sullivan the previous year. You also failed to note that Blomqvist was playing the best of the then three Goalies (Blomqvist, Ned, Jarry) two seasons ago when he was banished to WBS in November of that year. When he reported to WBS, he was once again snubbed in favor of Murashov and didn't get a start for about a month and then only was given one start every week to 10 days. When he was called back up to Pgh later that season he was completely out of game shape from the pathetic way he was benched.
Again, there are always more than one value in an equation and looking at the summation without looking at all of the values added up makes for bad decisions.