It doesn’t appear like the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be bringing back Tristan Jarry and will instead look elsewhere for a starter. That means the goaltender will be looking for a new home and with the potential goalie carousel that is set to occur, a number of teams will show interest. We are going to take a look at three contenders who will be in the mix and can benefit from inking him to a deal in free agency.
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are trying to get Joonas Korpisalo re-signed, but that’s no certainty. There’s no question that the team needs a starter moving forward as Cal Petersen’s future is up in the air and Pheonix Copley, AHL journeyman, is signed for just one year. Korpisalo was their guy down the stretch, meaning that even though Copley provided quality starts at a time of need, he isn’t the goalie they will turn to next season.
The Kings are fairly young and their window has opened to take runs at the Stanley Cup. Despite a little bit of an underwhelming stat line for Jarry this season with the Penguins, the team in front of him wasn’t exactly stellar either. His career save percentage is .914, which is solid and something the Kings could definitely benefit from with how many goals they will score in front of him.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights went through many starters this season, and even though Laurent Brossoit and Adin Hill have been the guys in net for the team on this playoff run, both aren’t considered starters and both are UFAs this summer. Robin Lehner is expected to miss the entirety of next season, so the only goaltender they have locked up and ready for next season is Logan Thompson.
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Although Thompson stepped into a much bigger role for the Golden Knights this season as a rookie, he’s young and there’s no guarantee he will be able to match the level he was at before his injury. Speaking of injuries, I don’t know how much Vegas can trust him now after all the time missed. They won’t be so fortunate to have so many goalies readily available to play games. If Jarry is brought in for 3-4 years at a good price to either start or be in a tandem with Thompson, that could be great for everyone. Jarry gets a better defensive team in front of him and Vegas gets security in net.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes pretty much ran with three goaltenders this season as Pyotr Kochetkov forced himself into the conversation. He also earned himself a four-year contract extension at $2 million AAV. While the team now has security in net at a cheap price, they will still need another goaltender with some experience to play a good amount of games.
The Hurricanes have Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta who are both set to become UFAs this summer. While Andersen was the starter and the go-to goaltender when healthy, he was never trusted to play too many games in a row and did not have a flattering SV% this season. Both Andersen and Raanta are veterans and while the Hurricanes will already be getting younger with Kochetkov, Jarry could add to that and be the goaltender they need. Daily Faceoff projects Jarry will get four years on a deal which would match up perfectly.
