Tristan Jarry and Ryan Graves sign Penguins deals
Tristan Jarry and Ryan Graves are the newest pieces of business for Kyle Dubas. Jarry will stay in the Pittsburgh crease for five years and $5.375 million per season. Graves left New Jersey to sign for six years and $27 million. These moves use up pretty much all of the Pens’ remaining cap space.
However, Jarry may have a new backup. Former all-rookie goalie Alex Nedeljkovic signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal, casting doubts on Casey DeSmith’s future in the Steel City. Regardless, Dubas has not been afraid to shake things up thus far. Another main order of business is finding a way to offload Jeff Petry and his contract, which will be a very tall order.
Dubas Dealing?
The former Maple Leafs general manager inherited an entirely different team to the one he had in Toronto. This is a group nearing the end of its run and needs supporting pieces to get over the top.
He added Reilly Smith from Vegas which could pan out nicely. He’s shaken up the blue line by replacing Brian Dumoulin with Graves. He also believes in Jarry enough to remain the starter. They’re not by any means guaranteed to catapult the Pens up the standings but these gambles have a chance of working out.
Potentially getting out of Petry and DeSmith would open up close to $8 million in cap space. There aren’t a ton of great free agents left but there are some other potential rumblings. One of which being reigning Norris winner Erik Karlsson. He could be a piece that actually turns the Penguins into legit contenders. It would also likely give Dubas votes for executive of the year.
Tristan Jarry and Ryan Graves will be important pieces for the Pens next season. One reason for that is because they are paid like important pieces. However, there’s still many months to go.
