Penguins beat writer rips into $26.9M Tristan Jarry, calls him team's "No. 1 issue"

By Evan Bell

Modified Oct 17, 2024 17:39 GMT

This season, Tristan Jarry has posted the worst save percentage of his career over the first three games. Despite the small sample sizes, Jarry's 83.3% save percentage is the lowest of his career. The way The Athletic's Penguins beat writer Josh Yohe see things, the netminder, who is signed to a five-year $26.9 million contract, is being detrimental to the team.

According to Yohe, going back to last season, over Jarry's last 17 appearances, the 29-year-old has posted a save percentage of just 86.7%. Across those 17 games, the Penguins have posted a 6-9-2 record. In addition, as he wrote, Jarry has now allowed 12 goals in less than seven periods.

With the team eager to capitalize on the two-year extension signed by Sidney Crosby this summer, which they hope will keep their championship window open, Tristan Jarry's play has been put under a microscope amid the team's 3-2 start to the season.

While they've been able to post a winning record that sees them sitting in second place in the Metropolitan Division, it's hard not to wonder how well they would be doing if Jarry, or another netminder, were performing better.

Yohe wrote on X:

"Yet another unprofessional performance from Jarry. I don’t see any reason for him to play again anytime soon. That’s 12 goals allowed in less than 7 periods, and a number of them were terrible.

"In his last 17 appearances, Tristan Jarry’s save percentage is .867. The Penguins are 6-9-2 in those games. (Pens scored 34 goals - 5.7 per game - in the 6 wins) He has been pulled four times in that stretch. The Penguins have their share of issues. This guy is No. 1 on the list."

Looking at Tristan Jarry's recent play through the start of 2024-25 season

So far this season, Tristan Jarry has been in net for two full games, posting a 1-1 record that has seen him allow nine goals. In the team's opening game against the New York Rangers, Jarry struggled to find his rhythm, allowing six goals as the Penguins were shut out.

In his next game against the Montreal Canadiens, the team was able to rally, picking up their first win of the season in a 6-3 contest against Montreal. Jarry allowed three goals.

This week, on Wednesday, Tristan Jarry took the net for the first 11:33 of the Penguins' clash against the Buffalo Sabres. During that time, he allowed three goals on just five shots, leading to coach Mike Sullivan replacing him with Joel Blomqvist.

Blomqvist was able to post a 92.8% save percentage over the rest of the game as the Penguins rallied to pick up a 6-5 OT win. With the team struggling, it's clear that they will have to figure something out sooner rather than later if they want to remain competitive.

From the sounds of things, their two choices are either to trade Jarry or hope that he can figure things out. In either case, don't expect Jarry to be the team's starting goalie on Friday when the team takes to home ice against the Carolina Hurricanes.