Tristan Jarry wants to remain in the Penguins' picture

Monday was picture day for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Members of the roster and employees of the franchise lumbered onto the ice at PPG Paints Arena. Some stood on top of risers while others sat in folding chairs aligned in the front row as a handful of photographs were snapped of the 2024-25 edition of the club.

Given the cumbersome nature of their equipment, goaltenders are part of the group that is seated. As such, Tristan Jarry was stationed at the left-hand corner of the photo.

He’s been in previous editions of photograph for approximately five years.

He’d like to be in it for several more.

But it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be in the Penguins’ picture moving forward beyond this season.

Heck, it was fair to wonder that during this season.

At least that’s what one was left to consider when he was waived in mid-January following a string of ragged results to open the 2025 calendar year.

“I’ve never experienced that before,” Jarry said following the photo and practice session Monday. “It was something I had to learn from and kind of manage I guess.”

After clearing waivers Jan. 16, Jarry was assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League and, aside from a paper transaction in February, remained with that club until March 3 when he was recalled.

Since rejoining the NHL club, he has offered perhaps the best stretch of play any Penguins goaltender has provided this season which, admittedly, has not been defined by a surplus of strong results in the crease.

In nine games following his return to the NHL roster, Jarry has a 5-3-1 record, a 2.95 goals against average, a .907 save percentage and one shutout.

That shutout came during his most recent outing, a 1-0 overtime home win against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.

It was quite a rebound from his previous two games in which he was pulled early while operating behind a defensive scheme that had more pockmarks than the Parkway East in late winter.

Jarry and backup Alex Nedeljkovic were both diced up during a 6-1 road loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 25 and a 7-3 setback against the host Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

“Obviously the (two losses), I think I’d like to have back,” Jarry said. “Being pulled is never easy. But just being able to play (Sunday) and have the game that I did, I think that shows resiliency and to just keep going with that.”

Jarry obviously would like to keep playing for the Penguins beyond this season. The 29-year-old is in the second year of a five-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5.375 million.

But given the largely underwhelming return Jarry has offered on that deal as well as the presence of rising prospects such as Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov, it’s curious if management will pursue further transactions that could jettison Jarry this upcoming offseason.

Chaz Palla | Triblive

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry makes a save against Senators forward Fabian Zetterlund during a game at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

“With goaltenders in particular, you have to be careful about writing the obituary too quickly,” Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas said Jan. 15 as Jarry went on waivers. “Because we’ve seen a lot of guys in the league who have been able to come back.

“It’s up to him to go down (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and use it as a full reset, and if he does get through, we’ll go from there.”

At the moment, it appeared the “obituary” on Jarry’s tenure with the Penguins was ready to be published but he indicated he expected to be back before the end of the season.

“They told me to go down there, play some games,” Jarry said. “That was what I did. Had some good practices. When the call came, it did. It’s something you have to be prepared for.”

Jarry’s coach professes satisfaction in the goaltender since returning.

“I’ve always been a believer that (Jarry) is a very capable, legitimate NHL goaltender when he plays up to his capabilities,” coach Mike Sullivan said Monday. “There was a couple of games there where he got pulled that wasn’t so much on him as it was on the team. I didn’t think our team was at its best and we didn’t put our goaltenders, necessarily, in a position to succeed in those particular instances. But you look at his overall game since he’s been back (since March 3) and it’s been pretty solid.

“It’s been the game that certainly I’ve grown accustomed to since he’s been a Pittsburgh Penguin. That’s the way I look at him. I believe in him. I think he’s a good goaltender and I think we’re seeing it right now.”

This isn’t the first time a would-be franchise goaltender for the Penguins has tried to reestablish his standing with the club.

More than a decade ago, Marc-Andre Fleury looked as though his career might not recover from underwhelming performances in the 2012 and 2013 postseasons.

But he got past those woes and was a key component to the franchise’s two most recent Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017.

Today, Fleury, now of the Minnesota Wild, is in the final weeks an outstanding career that will eventually be encapsulated on a plaque in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

How did he get past that nadir in the early 2010s?

“Go on the ice and work on those little details,” Fleury said in late October prior to his final game in Pittsburgh. “Work on everything. Get a good sweat. Feel better in practice. You do it like it’s a game, play hard. And I think your confidence grows a bit from it.

“(Jarry) is a great goalie. Sometimes, it’s just in your head a bit. You’re doubting or little things don’t go your way and stuff. You want to do too much. I was guilty of that sometimes. Got to find a way to balance, to play, have fun, relax. For me, that’s when can I play the best.”

Jarry will need to be at his best for the remainder of this season if he hopes to remain in the Penguins’ picture.

“I obviously want to be here,” Jarry said. “I’ve been here my whole career. That’s where I plan on finishing my career hopefully. That’s obviously something I want to do. I’ve loved every minute putting on a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey, and I hope I get to do it for a lot longer.”