Penguins Perspectives: Minding the net
Welcome to Penguins Perspectives, a weekly column by KDKA-TV Digital Producer Patrick Damp. Each Friday, Patrick will talk about the week that was, the week to come, what to watch for, and more.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Pittsburgh Penguins's problems are obvious and they are many. From a lack of depth scoring to defensemen who are struggling, and of course, the much-maligned power play.
However, the recent month has added one more issue to the complaint bin.
The goaltending.
As Jeff Marek likes to say, "low-hanging fruit is still nutritious."
While it's very easy to look at a box score, see the Penguins lost, and think "well, they gave up more goals than they scored, must be goaltending" it's rare that it's truly the case.
In the last month, though, after goaltending papered over the deficiencies of the Penguins roster, it's become an issue.
So far in the month of March, neither of the Penguins goaltenders have a save percentage above .900.
Tristan Jarry leads the way with a save percentage of .870 and Alex Nedeljkovic isn't far behind with a save percentage of .865.
Now, so far this season, the average save percentage in the NHL according to StatMuse is .903. This means that scoring is increasing and goalies and teams have yet to make the adjustment.
Seems easy enough, right? A year with increased scoring means that all goaltenders are going through it. While mostly true, this gets to a larger issue that the Penguins have faced since Jarry took over the starter's crease in 2021.
When the calendar flips to March, Jarry has a sub-.900 save percentage. This season is and likely was in the tank once we got to March, but for a team that wants to once again plans to be in the playoff hunt next year, this means at the most important time of the year, Jarry has to be ready to help lead them through it.
All of this comes with a very big, very obvious caveat: the Penguins are not a good hockey team. They have one of the worst actual goal-to-expected-goals rates in the NHL and their defense has been lackluster since the drop of the puck.
This offseason, Kyle Dubas made a bet that Tristan Jarry could be the guy to command the net and keep the Penguins in the hunt.
From October until about mid-January, his bet seemed largely correct. At one time, Jarry led the NHL in shutouts and he was constantly putting up save percentages that outperformed the 5-year, $5.35 million contract he signed.
It's no secret the Penguins are in for change this summer. Kyle Dubas has made it clear they will be retooling on the fly and not stripping this thing down to the bone for a rebuild.
One of his biggest decisions will be whether or not to keep Jarry here or attempt to move him elsewhere.
Alex Nedeljkovic is right in line with the league average this year, recording a .905 save percentage earning more than his 1-year, $1.5 million deal, and is likely in line for a raise this summer.
The Penguins also have Joel Blomqvist waiting in the American Hockey League and he's been nothing short of great. He's played 39 games and has a .920 save percentage. All signs point to him being ready for the next level.
This offseason is shaping up to be one of the most important in this era of Penguins hockey and now Dubas will have to make a decision regarding the most important position on the ice.