After Tristan Jarry left yesterday’s Winter Classic with an injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Dustin Tokarski from the minor leagues. The team has not moved Jarry to injured reserve to make room for the transaction; instead, Kris Letang has been designated non-roster while he is with family following the death of his father.
Tokarski, 33, has spent the entire season at the AHL level but has been excellent for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. With a .926 save percentage in 18 appearances, it’s one of his best performances to date in what has been a long successful career. The veteran netminder should be able to contribute if called upon, though Casey DeSmith will likely carry most of the load if Jarry is out for a little while.
DeSmith has a .911 save percentage in 13 appearances, though incredibly, nine of those have been losses. The 31-year-old has a career .915 and has been one of the most consistent backups in the league since debuting in 2017-18.
Still, losing Jarry is obviously a big blow. The 27-year-old netminder has been strong this year, winning 15 of his 25 appearances and posting a .918 save percentage. Not only does he have the Penguins to perform for, but he’ll also be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning he’s playing for a contract. Time on the shelf will obviously hurt those negotiations, though it is a good sign that he wasn’t placed on injured reserve.
There is no timeline for Letang’s return at this point.
I’m a big fan of Tokarski. I’ve seen a lot of him in the AHL. He’ll never make anyone forget Patrick Roy, but he’s a battler, and a good tweener goalie. Having said that, as a Caps fan, I hope he fails miserably in this stint with the Penguins.
Torkaski is a journeyman who finds a niche as a backup. He played well for Buffalo for a few games (but the rest of the games he was at the bottom in stats) but is not a long term NHL option.
Jarry gets hurt every year and can’t be counted on in the playoffs if we are lucky enough the make. Pens need to move on from him next year
What’s your suggestion, have DeSmith start? Trade Jarry for Vasilevdky with Tampa retaining $6 mil/year? or sign a goalie during the free agent frenzy that nobody else wanted to keep? The devil you know…….