CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Tristan Jarry was placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old goalie is in the second season of a five-year, $26.875 million contract ($5.375 million average annual value) that runs through the 2027-28 season he signed July 1, 2023. Jarry is 8-8-4 with a 3.31 goals-against average and .886 save percentage in 22 games (21 starts) this season.
"In terms of how it reflects on me, I think this is the job; you have to make decisions,” Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said. “The job is to make as few mistakes as possible, acknowledging that all of that is out there in the open for everybody to judge. I understand and agree with that.
“You're not going to get any defense from me on it. It was my decision [to sign Jarry] within the first couple weeks of being here. That was a decision then, I also would say, with goaltenders in particular, you have to be careful about writing the obituary too quickly. Because we've seen a lot of guys in the League who have been able to come back -- I think we talked about that a little bit when Tristan went down on the conditioning stint. It's up to him to go down there and use it as a full reset, and if he does get through, we'll go from there. I think it'd speak worse of me if it was a mistake and we prolonged it and continued to try to force it. If there are mistakes that I make, I try to rectify them and come out here and face the music."
Jarry did not practice Wednesday after allowing three goals on 17 shots Tuesday, a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Jarry has allowed at least three goals in four of his past five starts for the Penguins (18-20-8), who have lost three in a row and seven of their past eight games (1-4-3).
“It’s tough,” Jarry said after also allowing three goals on 17 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. “A loss is a loss, at the end of the day, but I thought the team played well. They did a good job. ... I think we’ve just got to get back to the things that have been working for us.”
The expected primary starter in training camp, Jarry began the season 1-1-0 with a 5.47 GAA and .836 save percentage in three starts before being assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on a conditioning loan Oct. 26. He was 4-1-0 with a 2.16 GAA and .926 save percentage in the AHL before being recalled Nov. 9.
Jarry lost his first three games back (0-2-1), first allowing five goals on 38 shots in a 6-2 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 15. He won four in a row from Nov. 27-Dec. 7, making 117 saves on 128 shots (.914), but is 3-5-3 since.
“It’s tough,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Obviously when you lose, this is the kind of stuff that can happen. I think a goaltender already has a ton of pressure, and I think it’s difficult for us because we feel like as a team we’re responsible if we don’t give our goalies enough help sometimes. Yeah, I think that’s the tough part.”
Dubas said Jarry has "zero" health issues and will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton if he clears waivers.
Last season, Jarry had an NHL career-high six shutouts, tied for the League lead with Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers), Connor Ingram (Arizona Coyotes), Charlie Lindgren (Washington Capitals) and Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets), but was 19-25-5 with a 2.91 GAA and .903 save percentage, each his worst in a season with at least three games played.
"The mood is what you'd expect it to be; this is the hard part of the business,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “The reality is performance matters. This is the reality of the business. Having said that, it's also a team sport and it doesn't fall on any one, two or three guys. It's a collective effort. All of us have to take ownership, coaching staff included, for where we're at and potentially where we go moving forward. But the mood is what you would expect it to be."
Alex Nedeljkovic, who has shared the starting role, is 7-7-4 with a 3.40 GAA and .886 save percentage since starting the season with a lower-body injury. He made his season debut Oct. 20, giving up five goals on 36 shots in a 6-3 loss at the Winnipeg Jets. Nedeljkovic was placed on waivers by the Detroit Red Wings in January 2023 after he was 2-4-2 with a 4.09 GAA and .880 save percentage. He played 26 games in the AHL that season.
"I don't want to talk about myself, but it's almost an identical situation as what I went through in Detroit," Nedeljkovic said. "The timing is eerily similar in what had happened. It's frustrating. It's hard to accept in the moment, and it was tough. But, like I said, the only thing you can do is control what you can control -- that's coming to the rink every day, working hard, have a good attitude. Try to make yourself better, try to make the guys around you better. He's been a guy that's played in this league a long time, I think two-time All-Star, so it's not like he doesn't know what he's doing.
"It's not like he's forgotten how to play. He's just going through a rough patch right now, and that's unfortunate. But we're going to do everything we can as teammates to help him get through this, and as people as well. Just as a person to try to help him get through it and come out better for it. So, it's tough."
The injury to Nedeljkovic and Jarry’s stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier this season led Joel Blomqvist, a 23-year-old prospect, to make his NHL debut. He was 3-5-0 with a 3.60 GAA and .904 save percentage in eight games (seven starts) but has spent most of the season in the AHL since his last start with Pittsburgh on Nov. 11.
Blomqvist will be recalled from the AHL to be part of a tandem with Nedeljkovic.
“At this point, just feel it's best in the long run for the team and for Tristan to allow Joel to come up here,” Dubas said. “We think over the past year and a half, with his play in Wilkes-Barre and when he's been up here with us, he's earned the right to have a go at it, and we get a chance to see what he can do in a prolonged look."
Jarry became the No. 1 goalie after Matt Murray was traded to the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 7, 2020. Murray won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Selected in the second round by Pittsburgh (No. 44) at the 2013 NHL Draft, Jarry is 144-93-29 with a 2.75 GAA and .910 save percentage in 279 regular-season games (267 starts) and 2-6 with a 3.00 GAA and .891 save percentage in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Penguins have missed the past two postseasons after qualifying for each of the previous 16. They are four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"No. 1, objectively, he came in and he'd had a great offseason,” Dubas said. “He came in in a great spot and it's a credit to him. I think throughout this whole stretch, he's continued to come in here, put the work in and that's not been a question at all. That just hasn't materialized the way we would like it to on the ice.
“At this level, you get to the point where you have to do what's right in the long run -- for him and for us."
