Penguins
More on Jarry’s Future with Penguins, Buyout Scenario
Buried within Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas’s impromptu press conference at the front of the Penguins locker room at their practice facility in Cranberry were a couple of nuggets that cut to the heart of the situation and goalie Tristan Jarry’s future with the organization.
The Penguins waived Jarry Wednesday, following yet another disappointing performance Tuesday. With several exceptions, Jarry has significantly underachieved this season, posting an .886 save percentage. That followed his exclusive pine time over the final month of last season.
And Dubas had enough.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now was told on Tuesday night that Dubas had reached a breaking point. While we weren’t provided with specifics, a galled Dubas left his box earlier than normal and wore his emotions as the Penguins blew a 2-1 lead third period lead and slumbered to a 4-2 loss against the Seattle Kraken.
The specifics emerged by Wednesday morning, and Dubas figuratively sent a message to the player and the team as well. If Jarry clears waivers, he will report to the WBS Penguins.
He is not expected to be claimed.
Wednesday, Dubas was surrounded by five cameras and a full throng of Pittsburgh media. Jarry’s departure coincided with a charity event in which the team signed a couple of children to one-day contracts as part of the Make-a-Wish foundation’s efforts, so there was extra media, as well as some of the Penguins’ in-house productions.
Conspicuously absent was Dubas stating a plan or offering Jarry a future with the club. Instead, Dubas indirectly referred to signing Jarry as a mistake.
“I think it would speak worse of me if it were a mistake, and we prolonged it and continued to try to force it,” said Dubas.
An underbelly of brusque finality dominated the general manager’s comments. The tone of Dubas’s voice and the curt nature of his answer regarding Jarry directly pointed to Jarry’s time with the organization coming to a close sooner than later, despite the goaltender having three years remaining on his contract after this season.
Joel Blomqvist, 23, was called up from WBS and will join Alex Nedeljkovic in the Penguins crease, presumably for the remainder of the season if all goes well (enough) for both.
Dubas also subtly prioritized the development of prospect goalies Filip Larsson and Sergei Murashov above Jarry’s path back to the NHL.
“But the other part is we have Filip Larsson, who has played well. We have Murashov in the ECHL,” Dubas said. “We’re mindful of keeping (their development) on the go because in the long run of the organization, they are vitally important.”
In order for Murashov and Larsson to have full access to their development path, they will need to be in WBS next season. That means Jarry cannot be.
Of course, circumstances and situations can change. Blomqvist may not claim his opportunity, injuries could become a factor, and trades could shuffle the depth chart. If the Penguins remain buried in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and a team puts forth a good trade offer for Nedeljkovic, it is hard to imagine Dubas saying no.
Jarry Buyout
A buyout would not be as onerous as one might imagine. Despite Jarry having three years remaining on his current deal, a buyout in June will be surprisingly affordable.
Our friends at PuckPedia have a buyout calculator.
The NHL buyout window opens following the Stanley Cup Final in (later) June. Some teams get a second buyout window, likely in August, if they have an eligible restricted free agent who files for arbitration.
It seems unlikely that Dubas will be able to trade Jarry. He admitted Wednesday he took phone calls over the summer but didn’t like what he heard. If he exorcised the buyout option in June, the costs will stretch over six seasons, ending in 2031. However, the final three seasons are minimum salary amounts.
Considering the coming salary cap spike to over $92 million and even higher in subsequent seasons, the Jarry buyout amounts in the final three seasons could be below the NHL minimum salary and less than 1% of the team’s cap structure.
The cap hits would be:
2025-26: $1,747,222 (a $3,627,778 savings)
2026-27: $5,047,222 ($327,778 savings)
2027-2028: $4,547,222 (A $827,778 savings)
2028-2029: $797,222 (a $797,222 cost)
2029-2030: $797,222 (a $797,222 cost)
2030-2031: $797,222 (a $797,222 cost)
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Jarry isn’t Sullivan’s and Dubas’s scapegoat. Let’s get real. Ned is not the answer. FSG needs to wake up. Thisvisnt a new issue. The team is inconsistent. Where is the defense. Sullivans way isn’t working. Why do you think you cannot fill seats.
Changing out all of the underperforming players and giving some younger players experience at the NHL level is a great way to reset the team. This move is just step 1. Who is next in the crosshairs?
Graves…
I can think of better ways to spend that cap space other than a buyout, especially for those first 3 years when Sid will presumably still be around. That is when the team will need that space the most! After those first 3 years, the team will be fully rebuilding, so the extra cap space means nothing. It’s such a terrible situation. I hope a better scenario presents itself.
Agree 100%. Probably better to find trade, even if it means taking on struggling player and/or retaining some salary. Reducing cost in next 2-3 years as much as possible is the thing
Did you miss that the first 3 years will be cap savings? Not as much overall as a trade with salary retention, but that would probably require giving up a draft pick or prospect and i don’t see Dubas doing that.
The savings were the smaller numbers the 1st 3 years. The 1st year isnt that bad, but the cap hits the following 2 seasons of 5 and 4.5 mil could be used elsewhere (anywhere) vs paying Mr. Jarry to play for a different team.
Can Jarry be sent to Wheeling so Murashov can move up to Wilkes? Asking for a friend.
No thanks
’27 and ’28, though….woof that’s a lot of money.
Yeah, no thanks. Attach a player ir a pick to Jarry if possible. If the quick retool Dubas is attempting is going to work, he will need that cap space!
Trading Jarry probably needs to happen over the summer as retention would almost certainly be required. Pens have one retention spot now but should probably hold on to it in order to maximize their return at the deadline this year (Petey or others).
This summer, I think the retention allocation re-sets giving them all 3 spots for next year.
Considering the available options, a buyout seems like the best choice, even though I’m not a fan of buyouts in general. Burying him for the remainder of the contract would result in a cap hit of over $4 million per season, making it the worst option. Trading him with a sweetener could reduce the hit to about $2.7 million and use one of the dead cap slots. This might be feasible since Petry and Smith’s contracts come off the books after this year, freeing up a similar amount. However, the challenge lies in finding a team willing to take on… Read more »
The team is the 2nd oldest team in NHL Sid, Geno & Letang are not what they once were. To all the frontrunners who became fans when they won SC’s can now go back to the Joke Steelers with HC Cliché
I hope Dubas was looking in the mirror as he made those statements. A lot can happen between now and the trade deadline–goalies get injured. Play Jarry on a semi-regular basis (not at the expense of Larsson) at WBS (where the defense is relatively better than the NHL team) and see what transpires.
Dan, doesn’t it make more sense to just keep him in Wilkes and save 1.15mil each of the next 3 years? The buyout seems to only make sense if you need the extra cap space next season. That additional 2mil isn’t worth the added headache of 3 additional years.
From a purely economic standpoint, yes. From a hockey perspective that I tried to explain in the story, no.
It just baffles me how the confident Jarry from a few years ago has turned into the 43rd best goalie who gives up soft first goals. Similar trajectory from Murray also, so there must be a specific mindset top goalies have that these guys don’t. Where’s AI when you need it.
It is strange. Remember how he had to exit the Winter Classic in Boston due to injury? It looked relatively innocuous but he was out for a bit. I think a lot of it is in his head. Steve Blass syndrome?
MAF got unseated by Murray, who was unseated by Jarry, who has been unseated by Ned, who will probably be unseated by Blomqvist… at one point does the organization look within and accept the blame?
Speaking of injuries, did Larsson get hurt last night? They switched goalies for the second period, and the new guy proceeded to give up four unanswered en route to an OT loss, I think.
He did get hurt and Jaxon Castor (who?) came in
Castor on emergency loan from ECHL. Decent stats there but only 5 games. 2.39 GAA & 0.908 SV%
Wondering if he is filling in for a short term injury to Murashov or Gauthier? No reason to have him in addition to those two otherwise.
Face it, the feeling is mutual between the Pens and Jarry – both want him in another organization. Jarry needs to go to the AHL and prove/increase his worth. He needs to go down, work on his game, win a bunch of games, maybe even help the Pens win a Calder Cup. Maybe right before the trade deadline or if another team’s starting goalie gets hurt, maybe,…just maybe,…(Yes,… I’m stealing a line from Ricky Bobby’s arch enemy) another team takes a chance on him. He plays well – value goes up. Another team gets desperate – value goes up. He… Read more »
Jarry did more damage to this organ-i-zation than any player in recent memory. Gagged in big games, never won a playoff series, was gifted a big contract by the HC and GM then tanked his trade value. His departure would lift a big, dark cloud overhead.
The buyout makes zero sense. We don’t need the cap space next year and the saving year 2 and 3 are too small.
Pens are in the unique situation where they have 4 goalies in the system who have all played well enough to earn promotions. Maybe not as #1 at the next level (yet) but have certainly earned some games as a back up.
Larssen’s numbers are actually better than Blom’s and Gauthier and Murashov have virtually identical numbers.
Probably best argument for a Jarry buy out is freeing up a spot for Murashov or Gauthier to move up to WBS . . . unless WBS carries three goalies and they just scratch Jarry?
The buyout doesn’t make sense cap wise for just having one good year of saving. Would be better to keep him between the AHL and the NHL until he regain a little value down the road and maybe trade him to a sucker with 50% retain.
This is a disaster for Dubas. So far he is batting a thousand as nothing he has done has worked out.
Nobody will claim him, especially when they know the penguins situation. They can wait…and if any team needs a goalie throughout the season, they know they can offer pittsburgh to take him with salary retention that would be a compromise between the buyout.
Somebody eventually will try him… especially if they have defensmen playing on their D instead of forwards disgusted as defenseman. And also, a coach willing to give him consecutive games.
Give it time. Worth the gamble for some team.