By Jordan Long
The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to decide which goaltender they will keep next year. Both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are restricted free agents. Pittsburgh could end up trading one of them or another team could offer them a deal that Pittsburgh could choose to match or not.
Murray has been with Pittsburgh for the past 5 seasons. His record in the regular season is an impressive 117-53-19 with a goals against average of 2.67 and a save percentage of .914. This season Murray started 38 games. The Penguins went 20-11-5. His goals against average was 2.87 with a save percentage of .899. Pittsburgh ended up in the qualifying round for the NHL playoffs.
Murray struggled against the Montreal Canadians. He wasn’t seeing the puck as well or covering it. He allowed rebound chances which ended up being goals. Murray’s record in the qualifying round was 1-2 with a goals against average of 2.50 and a save percentage of .914.
Jarry appeared in 33 games but started in net in 31 of them. He finished with a 20-12-1 record with a goals against average of 2.43 and a save percentage of .921. Pittsburgh was down 2-1 in the best of 5 series against Montreal. They turned to Jarry to save their season and force a winners take all game 5. He played well giving up 1 goal on 21 shots but Pittsburgh’s offense didn’t show up. They were shutout 2-0.
Pittsburgh will take a look at the goaltending and make moves if they need to which could include trading one of them. According to tsn.ca, Pittsburgh Penguin’s General Manager Jim Rutherford said, “I haven’t gotten to the point yet where I’m having serious talks or seeing exactly how much I can get. But I will say, I’m getting close to that point, to understanding just what people are willing to give. So, we’ll see. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to go, but I can already see that there is going to be a lot of interest.”
Pittsburgh has a difficult decision. Murray is the veteran and has more experience than Jarry. Murray helped Pittsburgh win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Pittsburgh could keep Murray in the end but cap space will be an issue. Murray may want more than the $3.75 million he was paid this year. Jarry isn’t as experienced but he can hold the position well for Pittsburgh. He could come cheaper. His cap hit this year was $675,000 and it may only cost Pittsburgh $1 to $2 million to keep him.
Pittsburgh might ultimately deal one of them away. They could receive something back even if it is a draft pick in this years’ NHL draft or next year. If that is the case, Pittsburgh will look at free agent goaltenders to improve the team.
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