PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tristan Jarry spent most of the past year in a constant state of flux, be it with his health, his game or his state of mind.
If the Pittsburgh Penguins’ two-time All-Star goaltender wasn't dealing with injuries that limited him to 47 games, he was careening between unbeatable and very beatable while flirting with career-lows in goals against and save percentage.
And then there was the uncertainty surrounding both the franchise and his future with free agency looming.
“There (was) a lot of unknowns and it's always hard on a player when you don't know what the next year could look like or where you could be," Jarry said Thursday.
A face-to-face meeting with one of his new bosses, an unwanted but not unwelcome extended bit of downtime to heal up and a lengthy new contract to remain in Pittsburgh has given Jarry a welcome dose of peace.
Signing for five years and $26.875 million to stay in the only NHL home he's ever known will do that.
“I want to be in Pittsburgh for a long time,” Jarry said.
If he can translate the regular-season success he's enjoyed — most of 2022-23 excepted — into the playoffs, he will be.
Jarry's situation served as an early litmus test for first-year president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas. Dubas took over on June 1, tasked with figuring out how to get a talented if aging roster that includes stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang back to the league's elite.
Dubas made it a point to travel to Edmonton to meet with Jarry and his wife Hannah. There Dubas outlined his vision of the future, one that will depend rather heavily on Jarry finding a way to have a postseason breakthrough. He stumbled through a first-round loss to the New York Islanders in 2021 and a broken foot kept him out of all but one game of a first-round loss to the New York Rangers in 2022.
The Penguins missed the playoffs this spring, ending the longest active postseason streak in major North American sports at 16 years. Jarry's spotty play was a major factor. He went 8-8-2 with a .890 save percentage over his final 20 appearances, hampered by the lingering effects of an unspecified injury he called unavoidable.
“I was dealing with it for, I must say, since the beginning of training camp,” he said. “And just being able to not get ahead of it and not really get over it was the toughest thing for me.”
Jarry insists he's “100%” now and shot down speculation that the injury was chronic, saying it's something he'll “never” have to deal with again.
Pittsburgh's playoff absence meant his break started in mid-April. Three months later, he says he's adapted his training techniques and is stronger “in a different way” than he was before.
“Being able to have the people work with me every day, I think that’s helped,” Jarry said. “It’s really it’s put me in a good position, has put me in a good position to be fit.”
The Penguins have added experienced depth behind Jarry, bringing in Magnus Hellberg and Alex Nedeljkovic to join Casey DeSmith in the fight to be Jarry's primary backup. Dubas, whose contract as the Maple Leafs general manager was not renewed, also traded for veteran forward Reilly Smith and signed defenseman Ryan Graves to a six-year deal.
It was the highlights of a busy few weeks for Dubas as he retooled around his team's core.
Jarry believes this season's team will be “more competitive” than the one that limped to the finish and ultimately, out of the playoffs.
“It was very frustrating, very upsetting that that’s what happened and we weren’t able to make it,” Jarry said. “And I think this year it’s going to change. Things are going to change and we’re going to be a better team. And I think that we’ll have a really good chance this year.”
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Will Graves, The Associated Press