Penguins turn to Blomqvist, Nedeljkovic in net

Tristan Jarry cleared waivers and is back in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

It seemed like an innocuous comment at the moment.

But with the benefit of almost nine years, it proved to be insightful.

During the Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospect development camp in Cranberry in June 2016, Mark Recchi — an icon for the franchise as a star winger who became a player development coach with the club in the 2010s — was asked about the first professional season of Tristan Jarry, then a promising 21-year-old goaltending prospect.

With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League during the 20215-16 campaign, Jarry looked outstanding … in the first half of the season. During the second half, his play tailed off.

Through the first four months of the season, Jarry posted an 11-2-1 record with a 1.97 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage and three shutouts. Over the final three months, he had a mark of 6-11-2 with a 3.21 GAA, an .887 save percentage and two shutouts.

“He started off very well,” Recchi said. “Had some lumps at the end, but we don’t mind that because we think it helps development. He’s a young goalie still right now, and he’s going to keep developing. His talent level is very good. It’s good he went through a little bit of a tough time. Now he knows his work habits in practice have to stay at a high level. When they dip a little bit, he gets in trouble and that’s a good lesson for him.”

Today, the 29-year-old Jarry’s troubles have landed him back in Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton.

The talented but inconsistent Jarry cleared waivers Thursday and was formally assigned to the AHL affiliate.

Jarry’s skills landed him selections to NHL All-Star Games (2020 and 2022), but a lack of reliability was so severe, it led the Penguins to move on from him — at least from a sense of being a member of the NHL roster — despite an ample fiveyear contract that does not expire until 2028 and carries a salary cap hit of $5.35 million.

(Per league rules, the Penguins can trim $1.15 million of Jarry’s salary cap hit from the books while he is assigned to Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton.)

In a corresponding transaction, the team formally recalled Joel Blomqvist, the club’s latest intriguing prospect in net.

Before those transactions formally occurred, Blomqvist took to the ice Thursday afternoon after the team’s practice. Given that he was not yet an official member of the NHL club, he was not permitted to join the practice session.

But with the minutiae of roster management settled, the Penguins will be leaning on Blomqvist as well as incumbent goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic right away.

The team embarks on a demanding seven-game road trip with contests on backto- back nights, first against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday then with the rival Washington Capitals on Saturday.

No one has been named a starter for either contest as of yet, but Blomqvist and Nedeljkovic will most likely platoon these two starts and then compete for playing time moving forward.

“We do have a short-term plan for the goaltenders,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ll see how that goes moving forward. Performance at the end of the day will always be the dictator. But we have sketched out a short-term plan. Both guys are going to get an opportunity to play. The reality is they have to with the demands of the schedule. We’re going to start three games in four nights, starting (Friday) night with a whole lot of travel in between. Both guys are going to get an opportunity to play.”

Having largely worked in platoons throughout his NHL career, including stops with the Carolina Hurricanes and Detroit Red Wings, Nedeljkovic is no stranger to a division of labor in net.

“It’s the same thing,” Nedeljkovic said. “(Blomqvist has) been playing well this year. He played well when he was here (with the NHL club) at the beginning of the (season). Went down and did his thing (with Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton). He’s been playing really well again. That’s the reason why he’s here today is because of how he’s played until this point of the (season). It’s the same thing. Whoever is going to give the guys the best chance is going to get the net. It’s my job to push him to be better. It’s his job to push me to be better.

“Our jobs combined are to give the guys the best chance to win.”

At the moment, wins are oxygen for the Penguins’ sinking playoff hopes. But with approximately three months remaining in the season, they have plenty of opportunity to turn that ambition into achievement no matter who is in net.

They nearly did that during the 2023-24 campaign over the final three-and-half weeks of the regular season when Nedeljkovic supplanted a struggling Jarry as the team’s top goaltender over the team’s final 13 games and almost dragged that squad to the postseason.

“There’s still time,” Nedeljkovic said. “You hate to keep saying there’s still a lot of games left because eventually, you run out of runway. But we’re still right there. We’re only a couple of points out.

“You saw what happened last (season). … We’re not that far out. Who knows what happens if we go on a good run here?”

Notes: Penguins forward Cody Glass was a full participant in Thursday’s practice after being withheld from Wednesday’s session while being evaluated for an undisclosed injury. … Penguins forward Rickard Rakell left practice prematurely Thursday for precautionary reasons as he was “nicked up,” per Sullivan. The coach suggested there are no concerns with Rakell’s status moving forward.