Molinari: It’s Time for Penguins to (Gulp) Bring Tristan Jarry Back

The Pittsburgh Penguins have had great expectations for Joel Blomqvist from the moment they invested a second-round draft choice in him in 2020.

He immediately figured prominently in their long-term goaltending plans. Was even viewed by some as their go-to goalie of the future.

Perhaps he still is, because Blomqvist is just 23 years old and has the tools and talents to perform at a high level, although Sergei Murashov certainly has injected himself into that conversation.

Regardless, there is very little to be gained by keeping Blomqvist on the major-league roster for the 2024-25 stretch drive.

The Penguins’ team defense is leaky at times, downright porous at others. It routinely commits garish, costly blunders – giving Toronto two breakaways in the final minute of the second period in the Maple Leafs’ 6-5 overtime victory Sunday, for example – and whoever happens to be in goal for the Penguins is asked to erase those mistakes.

And, all too often, is unable to do so.

Now, Blomqvist’s goaltending partner, Alex Nedeljkovic, is a veteran who has the mental toughness to deal with that kind of adversity, although even he reached a breaking point when pulled from the Penguins’ 5-4 overtime victory against Philadelphia last Thursday.

But Blomqvist’s pro career is barely beyond its embryonic stage – he has appeared in just 15 NHL games (all this season) and 47 more in the American Hockey League – and he is still trying to establish himself as a guy who can be effective at this level.

Trouble is, there is nothing about his NHL stats – a 4-9-1 record, 3.81 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage – that suggests that is the case. Not now, anyway.

His numbers clearly are a reflection, at least in part, of the flaws of the team for which he plays, but Blomqvist bears a lot of responsibility, too. He’s given up some soft goals, like the sharp-angle shot by Toronto defenseman Conor Timmins that went off his left shoulder and into the net to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead Sunday.

Even goalies who have memories so short they would embarrass a goldfish have to have trouble getting over goals like that, especially when they aren’t all that much of a rarity.

Sure, being able to deal with adversity is critical for any player, especially a goaltender, but for a young guy still finding his way in the pro game, bad goals – and even good ones, when they come in large quantities — have to dent his confidence, which is the most important asset he has.

That is why it is in the interest of both the Penguins and Blomqvist to send him to their farm team in Wilkes-Barre, where the Baby Penguins are having a successful season and could be a force in the Calder Cup playoffs.

And just as there is no downside in returning Blomqvist to Wilkes-Barre, there is none to having Tristan Jarry replace him on the major-league roster.

Never mind that, for much of 2024-25, Jarry was slightly (and justifiably) less popular than foot fungus with a large segment of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ fan base.

If Jarry would struggle, as he did for most of the season before being demoted to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, it will be reflected in the Penguins’ record. And with nothing except their position in the draft lottery at stake during the balance of this season, that actually would be a good thing.

And if Jarry somehow rediscovered his game during his time in the minors, perhaps another team looking for goaltending help during the offseason will show interest in trading for him.

But how well Jarry, who is 6-5-1, with a 2.67 goals-against average and .908 save percentage in 12 AHL appearances this season, would play is, at most, a secondary concern.

The important thing is to get Blomqvist out of a situation where there’s no reason to think the benefits of getting more experience in the NHL will outweigh the damage to his confidence that could be done playing behind a team that figures to be even more defensively flawed after the NHL trade deadline at 3 p.m. Friday passes.

Conversely, if he goes back to Wilkes-Barre and helps that team go on a significant run in the playoffs, Blomqvist could report to training camp in the fall imbued with a renewed belief in his abilities, poised to be a major contributor for the parent club in 2025-26.

If the Pittsburgh Penguins are counting on him to be a part of their future, the best thing they could do would be to save him from their present.