Penguins A to Z: Tristan Jarry did enough to save his job

With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 56 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 24, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Tristan Jarry

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Left

Age: 30

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 195 pounds

2024-25 NHL statistics: 36 games, 16-12-6 record, 3.12 goals against average, .893 save percentage, two shutouts

2024-25 AHL statistics: 12 games, 6-5-1 record, 2.67 goals against average, .908 save percentage, one shutout

Contract: In the second year of a five-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5.375 million Pending unrestricted free agent in 2028.

(This contract contains a no-trade clause that allows Jarry to submit a 12-team no-trade list.)

Acquired: Second-round draft pick (No. 44 overall), June 30, 2013

This season: Entering 2024-25, Jarry had a simple pursuit in mind.

“It’s just being able to be the guy (the team) can depend on,” Jarry said during training camp.

None of that happened, at least when it mattered.

Seemingly from the first game of the season — a 6-0 home loss to the New York Rangers on Oct. 9 — Jarry looked as unreliable as ever and hit rock bottom.

New York goal!

Scored by Sam Carrick with 17:36 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Jacob Trouba and Jonny Brodzinski.

Pittsburgh: 0
New York: 1#NYRvsPIT #LetsGoPens #NYR pic.twitter.com/UJfOvNq6Bm

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 9, 2024

And it didn’t take long for management to enact significant measures in attempts to correct the issues.

After Jarry gave up the first goal on the first shot he faced — a chronic team-wide issue all season long — in a 6-5 home overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 16, the Penguins put Jarry into something of a reprogramming session with goaltending coach Andy Chiodo a few days later. Then, by Oct. 26, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League for conditioning purposes.

Over a two-week stretch, Jarry appeared in five AHL games and posted a 4-1-0 record, 2.16 goals against average and a .926 save percentage before being recalled to the NHL roster Nov. 9.

pic.twitter.com/TAOsk6SoFF

— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) May 17, 2025

Upon his return, Jarry kept his head above water for the most part, going 7-4-2 with a 3.14 goals against average and an .895 save percentage in 13 games before the NHL’s holiday break.

But after Christmas, there wasn’t much to cheer about with Jarry.

Between Dec. 28 and Jan. 14, Jarry was 0-3-2 with a 2.85 goals against average and an .881 save percentage over six games.

Seattle goal!

Scored by Jamie Oleksiak with 11:56 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Oliver Bjorkstrand and Adam Larsson.

Pittsburgh: 2
Seattle: 2#SEAvsPIT #LetsGoPens #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/x3wboO1kgS

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 15, 2025

Following a particularly repugnant 4-2 home loss to the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 14, management took the drastic step of waiving Jarry one day later.

After clearing, Jarry was sent back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with no hard expectations of a return to Pittsburgh.

Jarry’s numbers weren’t particularly outstanding in his second stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Over six games, Jarry had a 2-4-1 record, a 3.05 goals against average, an .894 save percentage and one shutout.

But as the platoon of Joel Blomqvist and Alex Nedeljkovic struggled with the NHL club, Jarry was recalled March 3 as Blomqvist was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to further his development.

After the Penguins operated as sellers at the trade deadline March 7, Jarry reclaimed his job as the team’s top goaltender and offered the best prolonged stretch of play the club saw in net throughout the season.

In his final 14 games, Jarry had an 8-4-2 record, a 2.82 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and two shutouts.

pic.twitter.com/pBBRSQuKyv

— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) May 17, 2025

The future: In his season-ending press conference, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas indicated he expects Jarry, who turned 30 on April 29, to be in an open competition with the club’s other goaltenders and prospects in training camp.

So, it would appear to be a safe assumption Jarry won’t be on the move this upcoming offseason. A potential trade would likely require some kind of salary cap retention and/or sending away a future asset. And a buyout is an option of last resort the Penguins are wary of implementing given that a cap hit for Jarry would be on the books until 2030-31.

It’s also probably safe to assume the Penguins won’t be overly competitive (i.e., a non-playoff team) by design next season. And that might just be an ideal environment for which Jarry can function.

In other words, he might just be a placeholder for the Penguins until a prospect such as Blomqvist or Sergei Murashov are better suited to take over as the top goaltender.

Regardless, Jarry bottomed out in 2024-25, but he did just enough at the end of the season to save his job.