Tristan Jarry Sucks, The Penguins Have To Move On
The Pittsburgh Penguins championship window has closed. Well… that is unless they make a change between the pipes. It’s time for the Penguins to acknowledge they fucked up. Tristan Jarry sucks. If the Penguins don’t move on, you may as well cross the Penguins off the list of serious contenders moving forward.
Remember, Ron Hextall was brought in this season and the thought was maybe the Pens tear this puppy down to the studs. Of course, Pittsburgh found a way to clinch the top seed in the East division but were knocked out in six games via the Islanders in round one. Playoff hockey is different. Average goal tending isn’t winning you anything when the games truly matter.
Jarry, 26, was a full blown disaster in the first round against the Islanders. Even when Pittsburgh came out on top, he was still awful. The former second round pick in 2013 allowed 21 goals in the six-game series. His .888 save percentage is also as bad as it gets. Keep in mind, this was facing an Islanders team that had the second worst offense in the postseason. Just ahead of god awful Nashville.
“I think that’s always a tough thing,” Jarry said. “You always want to have a chance to win the Stanley Cup and every year you want to be able to fight for it. I think just me being able to play better and do better in the games will help.”
VIA ESPN
Wrong answer. Take blame. Be better. That’s the answer of someone that doesn’t have the eye of the tiger. That’s not the answer of a guy who’s having nightmares and will do anything to make them go away.
The fact of the matter is Jarry stinks and has a glaring hole in his game. The Islanders did more than expose Jarry. They made the Penguins netminder look like an AHL goalie. There’s a common theme to how the Islanders scored these goals. High glove side. That’s coaching and then failing to adjust as a goalie. If Hockey Guy Trey can pick up on a strategic element of the game, you really suck.
The decision to leave Marc-Andre Fleury unprotected in the expansion draft seemed like a semi logical one at the time. They have Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry in the system. Both younger and cheaper options. At the same time, you’re giving up a first ballot Hall of Famer and giving up draft equity to do so. Murray and Jarry were both unproven. Now it’s costing the Pens in the future.
The Penguins are not young and spry enough to overcome bad goaltending. No team really is but Sidney Crosby looks a step slower or at least did in the first round against New York. He got cooked a number of times on defense which resulted in goals for the Isles.
Crosby, 33, had a very pedestrian playoff series against the Islanders notching a 62.8 Corsi rating, a 60.48 shot share, a 62.61 scoring chance ratio, a 58.70 high-danger scoring chance percentage, and a 59.63 xGF (per Natural Stat Trick). Crosby was also on the ice for three goals for but five goals against in five on five situations. You tell me. Is that the kind of performance that can swing a playoff series when you have a guy like Jarry defending the pipes? God no.
This core is aging. Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are in their mid 30’s. Jake Guentzel is a fantastic player but he’s really the only high end forward in his prime. The only area the Pens can realistically improve upon to be taken seriously again is goal tending. The reality is, they probably butchered it beyond repair.
Jarry is under contract for $3.5 million for the next two years. A low enough number that the Penguins will likely just bring him back. Back up Casey DeSmith was okay in net recording a save percentage of .912 and is only on the books for $1.5 million. For a team that has essentially zero cap space, this is the route they will likely stick with.
Are Penguins fans screwed? In short, yes. Unless they build a time machine to bring back Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh will likely remain irrelevant until they find their next Fleury which may never happen.
