How Penguins Could Affect Goalie Trade Market; 3 Teams in Need

The new season and new storylines await. So, too, await new long-running trade sagas. Much like last season, goalies could again be the central focus for a few teams with Stanley Cup aspirations or hoping to snap long playoff absences, and that bodes well for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins’ surplus in goal could put them front and center in the trade chatter, and their need to create space (probably) by mid-season makes them a perfect match for a few teams who will likely need to fortify the space.

President of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas has kicked off his rebuild by selling salary cap space for draft picks and admittedly looking for young players to contribute immediately. Playing into Dubas’s plan, the goalie trade market is shaping up to give him a chance to both shed salary and insert youth into the lineup.

Here come the Penguins trade rumors.

The team’s net situation is crowded. The Penguins organization has six goalies and three nets, beginning with Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic at the NHL level, but at least one prospect could soon be ready for an NHL sweater. At each level, the Penguins could afford to lose a goalie and still have a starter-quality netminder in the cage. That depth puts them ahead of many teams, but it is the top of the depth chart that could become quite attractive to teams aching for a Stanley Cup run.

Perhaps attractive is the wrong word. Necessary might be better.

The New Jersey Devils missed the playoffs last season in large part because of goaltending. They suffered major injuries but couldn’t rely on goaltending in good times or bad. New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald fixed that problem by acquiring Jakob Markstrom.

The Ottawa Senators fixed their sieve-level netminding by dumping Joonas Korpisalo in a trade for former Vezina Winner Linus Ullmark.

They fixed their problems, putting additional pressure on other teams in the middle of the Eastern Conference to keep pace.

The Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres are also desperately hoping to break lengthy playoff droughts. To do so, both might need to solidify their goaltending position. Each team hopes its offseason solution will succeed despite spotty track records. Detroit turned to Cam Talbot, who reversed a steep downward career trend behind the LA Kings’ stingy defense, while Buffalo might need a committee approach if Devon Levi or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen don’t seize their opportunity.

Potential Penguins Trade Opportunity

One team which could rattle the goalie trade market is the Vancouver Canucks. When Vancouver president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford needs something, he moves quickly and decisively, and Vancouver may very well need some help in net.

Starter Thatcher Demko is reportedly healing slowly from a knee injury, and backup Arturs Silovs has a less serious knee injury. Rutherford discussed the situation with the media on Thursday and expressed patience. However, how long will he wait to solidify a crucial position if injuries persist?

Vancouver and new coach Rick Tocchet were the turnaround team of 2023-24, and the Stanley Cup is within reach.

Rutherford and Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin know Jarry very well. They didn’t draft him, but they oversaw his development and his ascension to the NHL. Rutherford was the GM when Jarry elbowed past Matt Murray and claimed the starter’s net, making the All-Star Game and posting a .919 save percentage in 2019-20.

It was Rutherford who traded Murray to create space for Jarry.

Jarry’s name has popped up a few times in trade chatter, but not with any heat. However, his contract is an issue, as he’s got four years remaining with a $5.375 million salary cap hit. Following his struggles in the final two months last season and being supplanted for the team’s most important games in April, his trade value is not high.

In fact, Jarry’s trade value may never be lower.

Yet most teams are beyond the point where they can accept a player with such a significant contract hit, and many may be leery of taking on four more years of a goalie who was benched last season and finished with a mediocre .903 save percentage.

Jarry’s contract could be offset in a deal with Vancouver because they, too, have a contract or two they might want to shed. Canucks winger Connor Garland has two more years on his contract with a cap hit near $5 million. If (and it’s a big if) Vancouver is worried about the long-term prognosis of Demko, it’s not hard to imagine a trade framework involving Jarry and Garland.

Nedeljkovic would be the other primary option because of his affordable $2.5 million AAV. A team that needs an affordable short-term solution, or a team like Detroit or Buffalo, which is short on cap space but has a significant need, might be the right match.

Here’s a wild scenario: Building on the Nashville Predators haul for hot-shot prospect Yaroslav Askarov, could Dubas allow newly arrived Russian prospect Sergei Murashov to push past top prospect Joel Blomqvist, thus making Blomqvist available for a decent haul?

It takes two to trade, and if Blomqvist is ready, perhaps a GM could pry Blomqvist instead of one of the NHL goalies.

Jarry/Penguins Depth Chart

The Penguins’ stockpile was slightly unexpected because of Murashov’s unforeseen late July arrival, but Dubas chose to re-sign Nedeljkovic in June despite Blomqvist’s near readiness.

The surprise of the offseason may have been Dubas re-signing Nedeljkovic despite downplaying the possibility in his season-ending press conference in favor of promoting Blomqvist.

“It will give (Blomqvist) a chance to breathe,” Dubas said of re-signing Nedeljkovic.

It shouldn’t take much to remind the league of Jarry’s past success. By the middle of last season, Jarry was a primary reason the team still had a fighting chance to make the playoffs. He disposed of the criticism that he didn’t or couldn’t steal points with numerous thefts or point-earning performances.

The Penguins goalies were among the league leaders in save percentage and were in the running for the Jennings Trophy until everything collapsed.

Blomqvist stumbled in the AHL playoffs after Dubas rolled out the red carpet for his NHL arrival, but how much longer will he need to breathe?

Blomqvist will also share the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ net with Murashov, which is probably a less-than-ideal situation for both.

Adding to the logjam, the Penguins also have a pair of younger goalies (Taylor Gauthier and Filip Larsson) who are ticketed for the ECHL but could play in the AHL, too.

There’s a fine line between depth and being overcrowded, and the Penguins appear to be in the latter category. And that’s why the trade rumors are soon to follow. It could be necessary for both sides.