The Pittsburgh Penguins are making a drastic change to their roster on Wednesday, as they are placing goalkeeper Tristan Jarry on waivers, according to the team's X account. On the season, Jarry has an 8-7-4 record with a 3.32 goals-against average, the highest mark of his career. As a result, Jarry was demoted by the Penguins early in the season.
It also doesn't help that Pittsburgh has an 18-19-8 record in the Metropolitan Division. For a normally dominant franchise, the past three years haven't been great. They've missed the playoffs all of those years. Even with Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Kris Letang, their production wasn't enough.
Now, the Penguins are taking another route to try and salvage their underperforming season. Despite Crosby breaking the Penguins' all-time assist record, those individual accolades aren't equating to the team's success. There have even been rumors about the team possibly blowing up their roster. Jarry's waiver hit could be the first significant move for the franchise during a tumultuous season.
Penguins could make more moves after Tristan Jarry
While the Pittsburgh goaltender hasn't had a productive season, to say the least, the defense itself hasn't helped Jarry. The Penguins are dead last in the NHL for total goals allowed this season. For a team that prides itself on the defensive side, it hasn't been there this season.
However, the Big 3 of Malkin, Letang, and Crosby have more years behind them, than in front of them. However, they did have some nice young pieces but they couldn't keep them. For instance, Jake Guentzel was emerging as a top winger in the NHL. Still, the Penguins sent Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Trading away some of the young pieces has revealed the age of this Penguins group. 14 of their players are 28+ years old. While experience isn't a bad thing, it's reared its ugly head so far this season. A sub-.500 record isn't what the fans or the franchise expect.
They've dropped seven of their last games during this process. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday said, “The Penguins have not said who will be promoted to Pittsburgh to form a tandem with Alex Nedeljkovic, who was the only goalie on the ice at Wednesday’s practice.”
There hasn't been an indication of who will replace Jarry in the goalkeeper position. Even a goalie change might not salvage a rocky season for the Penguins. However, if the new goalie catches a hot hand, a turnaround could happen sooner rather than later.