When the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they planned to carry three goaltenders on their current Western road trip, many presumed that there would be some kind of rotation with them.
Well, it appears that is not the case.
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With two games remaining on the trip, goaltender Tristan Jarry was sent back to Pittsburgh to work individually with director of goaltending Jon Elkin. Head coach Mike Sullivan, again, stressed that the move is all a part of a bigger process to get Jarry back to where they need him to be, which is at his very best.
“The first couple of starts that he’s had haven’t been his best,” Sullivan said. “I’m probably stating the obvious when I say that. But it’s our responsibility to help players through some of the struggles they inevitably go through in this league, and Tristan is no different.”
Rookie Joel Blomqvist was the other half of the Penguins’ goaltending tandem – along with Jarry – to start the season. Jarry struggled in the season opener against the New York Rangers and was pulled in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres a week later.
Blomqvist got the bulk of the playing time until Alex Nedeljkovic was activated from injured reserve and returned from his conditioning stint in the AHL, which happened just before Pittsburgh’s Western road swing began in Winnipeg on Sunday.
Nedeljkovic has started both games since, and Blomqvist has been dressing as his backup. With a back-to-back looming against Edmonton and Vancouver on Friday and Saturday, each goaltender will likely start before the road trip closes out.
But after the road trip – beginning Tuesday at home against the Minnesota Wild – there’s no telling what the team will do as far as its roster.
Forwards Blake Lizotte and Vasily Ponomarev have been skating on their own in Pittsburgh and appear to be making progress toward a return. As it stands now, the Penguins’ roster is at full capacity with 23 players, and it doesn’t make much sense for them to carry three goaltenders for an extended period of time.
Related: Is There A Goaltending Controversy In Pittsburgh?
The logical answer would be to send Blomqvist back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate. But if the rookie continues to perform well, the Penguins are going to have some tough decisions to make with their goaltenders.
At some point, Jarry is going to need to get into some game action. The best-case scenario for him and the Penguins is that he puts together a string of good starts, proving to Pittsburgh that he is still their guy – or proving to a trade suitor that his services are worth the four years remaining on a contract that pays him $5.375 million annually.
But, for now, Sullivan and the Penguins are focused on Jarry’s progress and making sure they can help him come back strong between the pipes. And they’ll reevaluate once they feel they’ve done what they can to make that happen.
“It’s our job as a coaching staff and a hockey operations group to try to do everything we can to help our players be at their very best,” Sullivan said. “This is just a process that we’ve put in place. We spoke to Tristan about it. He’s bought into it, and we’ll go from there.”
Related: 5 Teams That Should Consider Trading For Penguins Goaltender Tristan Jarry
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