For the remainder of the trip the Pittsburgh Penguins will be moving forward with Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist. In an unorthodox move the Penguins have sent Tristan Jarry back to Pittsburgh while on an extended road trip for non-injury reasons.

Mike Sullivan said the Penguins sent Tristan Jarry back to Pittsburgh to work with Jon Elkin, who is director of goaltending for Pittsburgh.

— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) October 24, 2024

Mike Sullivan: "He’s a high-quality goaltender. He's a high-quality person. This guy's been an important part of our organization for a number of years now, and he's played a lot of solid goaltending for us."

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 24, 2024

The first couple of starts that he's had haven't been his best. I'm probably stating the obvious when I say that. But it's our responsibility to help players through some of the struggles they inevitably go through in this league, and Tristan is no different

It's our job as a coaching staff and a hockey operations group to try to do everything we can to help our players be at their very best. This is just a process that we've put in place. We spoke to Tristan about it. He's bought into it, and we'll go from there.

Publicly, they are going to try and say the right things while navigating this process. Realistically, based on their actions, they have all but given up on Jarry. Kyle Dubas gave a goalie with little leverage a five-year term and it has been a complete whiff. While I understand the Penguins were in a tough spot given the goaltender market at the time it doesn't change the fact they panicked and screwed up.

The Penguins don’t have any trust in Tristan Jarry, none. In a day in age where people question whether or not you start your goaltender in back-to-back nights the Penguins rolled with Alex Nedeljkovic for 13 consecutive starts while chasing a playoff spot. They didn’t skip a beat in replacing Jarry with a rookie with no NHL experience and have since decided he is a better backup option. They also decided to send Jarry back to Pittsburgh right before the team visited Edmonton (the place he played his junior hockey) and Vancouver (the area he grew up in).

They can window dress the situation all they want, if they could trade him, it would have been done yesterday.

A contract that was panned the second it was signed turned out to be a bad contract. This is the fallout.

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The Penguins will have a tough matchup tonight when they visit the Edmonton Oilers. It is another Sid vs Connor matchup so while the odds tip very favorably in Connor’s column based on age alone I do think Sid might get out of his funk in a game like this. It is always fun to see McDavid and Leon Draisaitl go up against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin despite the age gap. They are the best duos this league has seen this century.

Thanks for reading!

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