The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated goaltender Tristan Jarry from season-opening injured reserve, but have decided to assign him to the minor leagues right away. He’ll report to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, meaning that at least for now Casey DeSmith will serve as the backup to Matt Murray in Pittsburgh.
Jarry, 23, will surely be up at some point this season as he was a year ago when he played in 26 games for the Penguins. The 44th-overall pick from 2013 has turned into one of the better goaltending prospects in the league, and will stay sharp in the minor leagues for the time being while Murray handles the majority of the NHL starts. Pittsburgh, who had Marc-Andre Fleury installed as their starter for a decade before Murray came onto the scene, have found themselves with solid goaltending depth for quite some time and it doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. DeSmith too has yet to really prove himself in the NHL, but performed quite well in his 14-game debut last season.
After a relatively poor year in 2017-18 by his standards, Murray will have to look over his shoulder at the younger Jarry as the Penguins move forward. Only signed for one more season after this one, Murray needs to prove he’s the same goaltender that took the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, and not the one who registered just a .907 save percentage last year. He’s not off to a great start after allowing six goals in the Penguins first game, but should be given ample opportunity to turn things around while Jarry holds down the minor league net.
You don’t know Scranton Jan
Nice
I think there is very little chance that Jarry ends up pushing Murray in net. Jarry is not as highly ranked and regarded going into this season as this site seems to often suggest.
He’s the the “injury-backup” meaning if Murray goes down, Jarry becomes the starter.