(Pittsburgh) Tristan Jarry has spent the majority of the past year in constant evolution, whether in terms of his health, his game or his state of mind.
The Pittsburgh Penguins star goaltender has been limited to 47 outings due to injury. And when he was healthy, he went from unbeatable to easily beatable, as he flirted with his career-worst stats.
Then there was the uncertainty surrounding his future with the team as the free agent market opened.
“There was a lot of uncertainty and it’s hard for a player when you don’t know where you’re going to play next season,” Jarry said Thursday.
A one-on-one with one of his new bosses, unexpected time off to tend to his injuries, and a long new contract with the Penguins gave Jarry peace of mind.
He eventually agreed to a five-year, $26.875 million deal to stay with the only team he’s known in the NHL.
“I wanted to stay in Pittsburgh long term,” Jarry said.
Jarry’s situation served as the first test for the Penguins’ new president of hockey operations, Kyle Dubas. The latter was named on June 1 and is on a mission to provide at least one more long run to the Stanley Cup with an aging core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kristopher Letang.
Dubas traveled to Edmonton to meet Jarry and his partner, Hannah. He presented his vision for the team and the important role that Jarry will have in this plan.
Jarry will however have to succeed in transposing his successes in the regular season into a dominant player in the playoffs. He lost to the New York Islanders in the first round in 2021. A broken foot forced him to play just one game in the Penguins’ first-round elimination to the New York Rangers in 2021. 2022.
The Penguins did not qualify for the playoffs this spring, ending the longest active streak in North American sports for playoff appearances after 16 consecutive appearances.
Jarry’s game was one of the factors that led to the Penguins’ failure. He was 8-8-2 in his last 20 outings and posted a .890 save percentage. He claimed to have been affected by the effects of an injury, the nature of which has not been disclosed.
“It was something that bothered me from the start of camp,” he said. It was hard to realize that I couldn’t heal completely. »
Jarry insists he is now “100%” and has refuted any theories that it was a chronic problem.
The Penguins not making the playoffs gave Jarry more time to heal his injury. Three months later, he says he has adapted his training and is stronger “in different ways” than before.
“It put me in a good position to get back into shape,” he said.
The Penguins have added experience to their goalie squad, signing Magnus Hellberg and Alex Nedeljkovic to wrestle with Casey DeSmith in hopes of backing up Jarry. Dubas also got forward Reilly Smith and signed defenseman Ryan Graves to a six-year deal.
Jarry believes the Penguins will be “more competitive” next season than the group that struggled late in the season and failed to make the playoffs.
“It was very frustrating, very upsetting as a situation,” Jarry admitted. I believe it will be different this season. We will be a better team and think we will have a good chance of getting there this time around. »