Pittsburgh Penguins fans have had a hard time trusting netminder Tristan Jarry with the starting position. Jarry, who recently signed to a five year $26,875,000 contract that carries an annual average of $5,375,000, has had a very tough time finding consistency to his game since he was handed the starting position in the 2020-2021 season after former Penguin Matt Murray was traded to the Ottawa Senators on October 7th, 2020. Since assuming the starting position, Jarry posted a .913 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average.
Like any player, Jarry has had his fair share of mistakes, arguably his biggest came on May 4th, 2021, game 5 of the Penguins-Islanders series. In double overtime, Tristan Jarry attempted to play the puck and pass it to one of forward Kasperi Kapanen, or defenseman Cody Ceci. Instead, he passed it directly to Islanders forward Josh Bailey, who flipped the puck over Jarry’s glove to end the game, giving the New York Islanders a 3-2 lead in the series. DK Sports Pittsburgh called it “among the most grievous playoff gaffes in franchise history, rivaling Hall of Fame defenseman Tim Horton’s own-goal 12 seconds into overtime of Game 4 against Chicago during Round 1 in 1972.”
Along with gaffes, injuries have played a big part in Jarry’s career, leading to nights where he looks like a Vezina trophy canditate, to nights where he looks like an AHL backup. At the end of the 2022-2023 season, he revealed that he had finished out the season playing injured. Jarry only played one game in the 2021-2022 playoffs, which he reportedly played with a broken foot.
Recently in an interview with Penguins reporter Michelle Crechiolo, Jarry made it clear that he was ready for this upcoming season by saying “Signing a long-term deal, you want to be able to perform, and you want to be able to do everything in your power to be able to perform.” He followed that up by stating that he was fully healthy.
The Pittsburgh Penguins parted ways with a key member of their core on Thursday, trading star winger Jake Guentzel in a blockbuster trade to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Penguins traded star winger Jake Guentzel (25% retained) and defenseman Ty Smith to the Hurricanes. In the trade, the Penguins acquired forwards Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius, a conditional 2024 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick.
The Hurricanes will send a 2024 first-round pick to the Penguins if Carolina makes it to the Stanley Cup Final. It will become the Flyers 2024 second-round pick if the Hurricanes don’t reach the Stanley Cup Final. The Penguins will receive an additional 2024 fifth-round pick if Carolina wins the Stanley Cup.
Michael Bunting is a player that Kyle Dubas knows very well. Bunting had 112 points in 161 games with Dubas’ Toronto Maple Leafs. This season he has 36 points in 60 games. Bunting will play alongside Sidney Crosby, with the hope that he can fill the hole that Guentzel has left.
Ville Koivunen has been tearing it up in Finland’s Liiga, racking up 21 goals and 34 assists over 57 contests for Karpat. The 20-year-old winger was drafted in the second round in 2021 by Carolina. He is described as smart and skilled, also a dual threat who makes his teammates better the second he steps on the ice.
Vasily Ponomarev had an impressive rookie season last year with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The 21-year-old posted 46 points in 64 games. Ponomarev, who is probably the closest to being a full time NHLer, played in two games with Carolina this season, posting a goal and an assist.
Cruz Lucius has been around a point-per-game player for the University of Wisconsin. The 19-year-old has 31 points in 32 games this season and is described as a Dual-threat offensive winger with good hands and an underrated shot. Needs to grow into his frame and add some pace to his play, but projects as a middle-six winger.
As the playoffs slip out of reach for the Penguins, many are questioning if it is time to part ways with head coach Mike Sullivan. Whether it’s the abysmal powerplay, their play in overtime, or the absence of bottom 6 scoring, it seems Sullivan and his team can’t get their message through.
After multiple frustrating games that were lost by one goal, Sullivan called out his players saying, “We need more guys to step up,” and mentioned the lack of consistency shown by the Penguins.
Sullivan attempted to get a response out of the team by jumbling up the lineup, but instead got a poor effort when they fell in overtime to the New York Islanders.
Another issue that Sullivan has is how he may have lost his way of developing and motivating players.
In the past, Sullivan was known for being able to develop “no-names”, prime examples being Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, who were both third round draft picks of the Penguins. More recently Evan Rodrigues and Cody Ceci had their careers revived in Pittsburgh.
That touch may have faded as it seems that Sullivan has been hesitant to play his younger players and has a shorter leash on them.
An example of this occurred against Montreal where Valtteri Puustinen was benched after making one bad pass because of a misread. In the same game, Jeff Carter made multiple bad defensive reads leading to scoring chances and didn’t miss one shift.
The Penguins are currently a team seemingly going nowhere. If Sullivan clings to over-the-hill vets like Carter instead of playing younger guys who need to be developed, then the Pens will not be able to make another Cup run during the Crosby era.
Every offseason, there are certain players that gain a bunch of hype around the league. Whether it’s an upcoming prospect or a player expected to break out, there are always players who don’t live up to the hype that is being tossed around.
Carolina Hurricanes- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (HM: D. Orlov, T. DeAngelo)
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Kotkaniemi after signing him as a restricted free agent from the Montreal Canadiens. The former 3rd overall pick has shown signs of becoming an elite two-way center. This season he started the year out hot, but recently has only managed 3 points in his last 22 games.
Columbus Blue Jackets- Johnny Gaudreau (HM: P. Laine, D. Severson)
Johnny Gaudreau signed a 7 year, $68,250,000 contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jul. 13, 2022. In the 2021-2022 season, Gaudreau put up an astonishing 40 goals and 75 assists for the Calgary Flames. Since then, his production has fallen off a cliff, “only” putting up 74 points in 80 games last season. This season is unfortunately even worse for Johnny, only putting up 31 points in 49 games so far.
New Jersey Devils- Timo Meier (HM: V. Vanecek, A. Schmidt)
The Devils signed Timo Meier to an 8 year / $70,400,000 contract this past offseason, after acquiring him at the deadline. This season he has only 18 points in 34 games. The Devils should be hoping that he can turn things around to his days in San Jose, or they could have a bad contract on the books for 7 more years.
New York Islanders- Oliver Wahlstrom (HM: A. Pelech, I. Sorokin)
This year was a make-or-break year for Oliver Wahlstrom. Wahlstrom had high expectations when he fell to the Islanders at 11th overall in 2019. Unfortunately, he’s dealt with many injuries throughout his career, and the Islanders knew this when they gave him a 1 year, $874,125 contract, a “prove it” contract. This year, he’s only managed 6 points in 23 games, and has served as a healthy scratch over grinders like Matt Martin.
New York Rangers- Blake Wheeler (HM: K. Miller, I. Shesterkin)
This offseason, Blake Wheeler was bought out by the Winnipeg Jets in the final year of his contract. He decided to sign a team-friendly contract with the New York Rangers for 1 year at $800,000 as a cheap option for their top 6. In 49 games, he’s only managed 20 points while playing with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.
Philadelphia Flyers- Noah Cates (HM: C. York)
Despite their recent struggles, the Philadelphia Flyers have not disappointed much this year. A team expected to be a bottom feeder, now sitting in a playoff spot. Despite that, there are a few players who haven’t lived up to expectations, Noah Cates is one of them. Cates finished last season with 38 points in 82 games and a plus 3 on one of the worst teams in the league. Last year Cates finished 9th in Caulder voting and 15th in Selke voting due to his strong two-way game. This season, his offensive and defensive game has taken a step back, only having 5 points in 28 games and is a minus 7.
Pittsburgh Penguins– Ryan Graves (HM: R. Smith, P.O Joseph)
When Kyle Dubas took over as General Manager of the Penguins, he had a few players that he needed to replace. One of those players was Brian Dumoulin, who had fallen off from being one of the best shutdown defensemen in the league. This was a huge problem in the team’s lack of success last season, so Dubas looked to Ryan Graves as his replacement. Unfortunately, Graves hasn’t had success with the team, looking on par as to what Dumoulin was doing last season. Graves has had his role reduced from the start of the season, slowly making his way down to the third pair with Chad Ruhwedel. Although looking better in his recent games, getting bumped back up to the second pair, the team needs to see consistency before considering his 6 year / $27,000,000 contract worth it.
Washington Capitals- Alex Ovechkin (HM: R. Sandin, E. Kuznetsov)
Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals have one goal in mind coming into this year; Breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all time goal record. So serious that Capitals owner Ted Leonsis announced that he promised Ovechkin that they will not “rebuild” as long as he’s on the roster. Ovis quest for the record this season has not gone as planned for him, as he’s only picked up 9 goals in 44 games, on pace for 16 goals. If he were to finish with the projected 16 goals, he would still need 57 goals to break the record, not something that is ideal for a 38-year-old to hear.
The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft took place on July 21st, 2021, in Seattle, Washington. Each of the 30 NHL teams (Vegas was exempt) could protect eight skaters and a goaltender, or seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender.
The Penguins list consisted of:
Forwards
Teddy Blueger, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Kasperi Kapanen, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust
Defensemen
Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, and Mike Matheson
Goaltender
Tristan Jarry
The Seattle Kraken took Brandon Tanev, a speedy, hard-working penalty killer who always gave 100%. Although, the biggest loss occurred when the Penguins traded Jared McCann to Toronto for prospect Filip Hållander and a 7th-round pick in 2023. McCann, who was 25 at the time, scored 32 points in 43 games during the shortened 2020-2021 season. McCann was taken by Seattle from Toronto in the expansion draft. This past season for Seattle, he had 40 goals and 70 points in 79 games, leading the team in scoring.
Adding onto the disaster that the McCann trade was, Hållander recently signed a 5-year contract in his home country of Sweden. Along with that, Jeff Carter who was protected over McCann, is currently a healthy scratch and is in and out of the 4th line. Carter is on the final year of his 2-year, $6,250,000 extension, and has regressed immensely from when he was acquired in 2021.
If I were the general manager of the Penguins, my Expansion Draft protection list would consist of:
Forwards
Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Kasperi Kapanen, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Jared McCann, and Brandon Tanev
