A lot happened this offseason, with Penguins President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas making plenty of moves to put the team in a position to compete for the Stanley Cup.
So, with that, we’re going to take a look at where each position stands heading into Penguins Training Camp presented by UPMC, scheduled to begin next week … starting with the forwards, moving onto the defense, and finishing with the goaltenders.
NOTABLE OFFSEASON MOVE: Re-signing Tristan Jarry
NOTABLE OFFSEASON ADDITIONS: Alex Nedeljkovic, Magnus Hellberg
NOTABLE OFFSEASON DEPARTURE: Casey DeSmith
Goaltending is vitally important to a team’s success, and Dubas did what he could to solidify Pittsburgh’s.
He was thorough and methodical when it came to evaluating Tristan Jarry’s situation, flying across the continent to meet Pittsburgh’s No. 1 netminder and his wife Hannah at their Edmonton home so that both sides could get to know each other better.
Dubas also talked to people throughout the organization – including teammates, coaches, and goaltending and player personnel – who all spoke highly of Jarry; looked at his entire career to date instead of letting certain seasons or situations be the narrative; and evaluated where the 28-year-old stood in the marketplace.
After sifting through all of that information, Dubas determined that inking Jarry to a five-year contract extension was the best bet for the Penguins to make.
“I think it's been made very clear to him what my expectations are in terms of him continuing to be in great shape, put himself in a position to be as healthy as possible, and to continue playing the number of games that he has,” Dubas said. “With what I learned from being with him and his wife Hannah in Edmonton, I was very comfortable with that, that he was going to be able to hold up his end of the bargain and continue to get better for us.”
Jarry is certainly extremely motivated to return as the best version of himself after dealing with some injury issues that began when Anders Lee fell on him in a game on April 12, 2022, with everything sort of snowballing from there.
In addition to re-signing Jarry on the first day of free agency, the Penguins brought in Alex Nedeljkovic on a one-year deal with an average annual value of $1.5 million. It was an impactful transaction at the time, but is even more so now with Casey DeSmith part of the three-team trade to bring Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh. DeSmith’s departure means Jarry and Nedeljkovic are the goalie tandem to start the season.
Nedeljkovic, 27, is an intriguing player. The Ohio native, drafted by Carolina in the second round of the 2014 NHL Draft, won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender in 2018-19. After one more year in the minors, Nedeljkovic had a breakout rookie season for the books. He was named to the NHL's All-Rookie Team and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the league's top rookie, in 2020-21 after going 15-5-3 with a 1.90 goals-against average, a .932 save percentage and three shutouts.
But when Nedeljkovic and the Hurricanes couldn’t come to terms on a deal, he got traded to Detroit. Nedeljkovic’s play tailed off during his first season there, going 20-24-9 in 59 appearances, and he split the second between the Red Wings and their AHL affiliate.
Coming into his new situation here in Pittsburgh, Nedeljkovic won’t be required to carry the workload, as the Penguins want him and Jarry to push each other so that they can elevate their games and be at their best. But Nedeljkovic should be more than capable of stepping up if needed, as he’s clearly a talented goaltender who just needs to work on consistency.
Depth is absolutely critical at the goaltending position, as it’s such a demanding one, “and there are very few goalies that go through the year without an injury,” Dubas said. “If you don't have the depth there built up, and you don't have a system in place, you can really leave yourself shorthanded.”
The Penguins are excited about Joel Blomqvist, their second-round pick in 2020, who’s making the jump to North America this season. Dubas said Blomqvist will be in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton along with 22-year-old Taylor Gauthier. He was somewhat of an under-the-radar signing out of the Western Hockey League in March 2022, but went on to have a solid season in the pros, appearing in 20 games for WBS.
To add a more veteran presence to Pittsburgh’s depth, Dubas brought in Magnus Hellberg. The 6-foot-6 netminder has played in parts of five seasons in the NHL with Ottawa, Seattle, Detroit, the New York Rangers and Nashville Predators, appearing in 23 career games.
Overall, the Penguins seem to be pretty good shape, and we’ll see what happens as the season progresses.
