While the Penguins will be missing Matt Murray for the next 3-6 weeks, they are expected to give Marc-Andre Fleury the bulk of the preseason starts instead of their other prospects that could conceivably start the season as the interim backup, writes Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Pittsburgh has a quality prospect in Tristan Jarry but they may prefer to give him regular action in the AHL to start the season rather than start on the bench behind Fleury in the NHL.
If that is the case, the team may look to bring in a short-term replacement, likely off the waiver wire. Pittsburgh has just four goaltenders signed on an NHL contract and have some flexibility on the 50 contract limit so they have some room to bring another goaltender in. Alternatively, the team has Leland Irving, who played in the AHL last season and has a handful of NHL games under his belt, on a tryout in camp. If they don’t want to add someone from another organization, they could give him a two-way deal and have him start the season behind Fleury until Murray is ready to return.
More from the Metropolitan:
- In a mailbag with readers, Newsday’s Arthur Staple expects John Tavares to seek an eight year deal worth between $9.5MM and $10MM per season from the Islanders when his contract expires following 2017-18. Tavares is currently making $6MM in salary for each of the next two years with a cap hit of $5.5MM. The captain is coming off his second straight season with at least 30 goals and 70 points and led the Isles is both regular season and postseason scoring last year.
- The Devils are experimenting with position changes for center Jacob Josefson and defenseman Jon Merrill (trying him on his off-side), notes Fire & Ice’s Andrew Gross. Merrill, a natural lefty, has played both sides on the back end over his career while Josefson, who is being tried out as a right winger, isn’t as used to his new position, having exclusively been deployed as a center since joining the Devils. New Jersey has numerous options on the left side of their blueline including newcomer Kyle Quincey, who just joined the team yesterday so if Merrill can show he can play the right side, that will give the team much more flexibility moving forward.