An important second offseason for Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas began long before he arrived in Las Vegas on Sunday ahead of the NHL Draft. One of his moves in the run-up to the draft — re-signing Alex Nedeljkovic a week ago — appears to be the first part of Dubas’ attempt to change the Penguins’ goalie dynamic.
The second part could center on Tristan Jarry. Multiple teams have been informed that Jarry, who received a long-term contract last July, is available in a trade, said league and team sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The situation is fluid, the team sources said.
Jarry, 29, is set to enter the second season of a five-year contract. He counts $5.375 million against the salary cap. His contract includes a 12-team no-trade list, and Jarry’s representatives can provide Dubas with a new list at the start of the new league year, which is this Monday.
The Penguins were uneasy with committing to Jarry last offseason but felt it was their best option. So, they took a chance on a well-liked, homegrown goalie who had shown — at times — that he could perform at a top-10 level. But there was frustration with Jarry’s uneven performances, reactions to teammates after goals and a perceived lack of pushback when Nedeljkovic wrestled the starting job from him down the stretch, team sources said. Jarry did not start any of the Penguins’ final 13 games.
During end-of-season player evaluations, the Penguins concluded they needed to keep Nedeljkovic, who went 8-2-2 to end the season, instead of losing him as an unrestricted free agent. Nedeljkovic, 30, re-signed for two seasons at a $2.5 million cap hit.
The Penguins have not ruled out beginning next season with Jarry and Nedeljkovic as their goalie tandem, though there is an appetite for open competition in training camp to see who wins the No. 1 job.
Complicating the goalie situation is the lack of consensus internally that prospect Joel Blomqvist has developed to the point of being a viable No. 2 to Nedeljkovic if Jarry is dealt. The team hoped AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton would make a longer postseason run to evaluate Blomqvist in high-stakes situations, but the AHL Penguins lost in the opening round.
Team sources said Blomqvist remains highly regarded, but there is some hesitation in turning over a veteran-heavy roster led by Sidney Crosby to Blomqvist in case of an injury to Nedeljkovic.
Though Jarry is available in a trade, the Penguins are confident he and Nedeljkovic would not allow any goalie controversy to become an off-ice issue.
Dubas would prefer to make a so-called hockey trade for Jarry, specifically to add either a potential top-six winger or top-four-caliber defenseman, team sources said. With limited projected cap space, Dubas views any big changes to the roster as most likely to come by way of trades, team sources said, instead of targeting bigger names in free agency, which begins Monday.
The Penguins project around $10.5 million in cap space going into free agency.
Given their needs and their roster makeup, the Penguins devoting approximately $7.9 million to a goalie tandem is not ideal. But with Evgeni Malkin signed for only two more seasons and Fenway Sports Group holding the opinion that the current team should at least return to the playoffs after a two-year absence, there is consideration internally that going with a Jarry-Nedeljkovic tandem has more upside for that short window.
The Penguins are not convinced Reilly Smith, acquired in a trade at the NHL Draft last summer, was unhappy to be with the organization, but there is trepidation about bringing him back for the final season of his contract, team sources said.
Smith did not want to leave the Vegas Golden Knights after they won the Stanley Cup in 2023. Dubas hoped the Penguins’ player-friendly culture would ease that transition, but it did not — at least until the latter part of this past season, when Smith was more at ease and engaged.
Smith recently switched agents, hiring Pat Brisson, who represents Crosby, and whose partner, J.P. Barry, is Malkin’s agent.
Dubas will work with Brisson on trading Smith if both parties determine that is the best alternative, league and team sources said. The Penguins offered Smith to teams at the trade deadline, but Dubas found no takers — though he did come away from talks confident there would be a market for Smith in the offseason.
Crosby’s contract
There is no concern on either side about Crosby’s looming new contract. It will get done, league and team sources said.
It’s more a matter of when.
Crosby can sign a new deal as soon as Monday. Talks between Dubas and Brisson are expected to intensify in Las Vegas, but the sources said not to read into anything if a new deal for Crosby is not announced before or on Monday.
With Dubas needing to deftly maneuver over the next couple of weeks to improve the team, both the Penguins and Crosby are content to wait longer than in the past to formalize a new deal, the sources said.
Crosby, who has spent much of his offseason in Europe, wants to give Dubas time to improve the team. Crosby has publicly committed to finishing his career with the Penguins, so neither the team nor he feels the need to rush his next contract.
More of what I’m hearing
• Extending Marcus Pettersson is very much on Dubas’ radar, and there is mutual interest in getting a new contract done during the offseason, league and team sources said. The Penguins view Pettersson as an essential defensive asset because he can play top minutes with either Kris Letang or Erik Karlsson, and they are open to a long-term deal with Pettersson, who is 28 and has emerged as a leader.
• The Penguins are confident that new assistant coach David Quinn will positively impact Karlsson and Ryan Graves, neither of whom thrived as hoped upon being acquired last season. Because of their time together in San Jose with the Sharks, Quinn and Karlsson already have a familiarity.
• One player the Penguins may look to add in free agency is Anthony Beauvillier, team and league sources said. A left-shot forward who can play center, Beauvillier is a 2015 first-round pick whom the Penguins feel could benefit from Sullivan’s system. Familiar with the Penguins from playing against them with the Islanders, Beauvillier likely would have a firm understanding of the Penguins organization as he shares an agent with Letang.
–The Athletic’s Josh Yohe contributed to this report.
(Photo of Tristan Jarry: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
