Two weeks ago, the Penguins opted to send goaltender Tristan Jarry to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan. That loan has a two-week limit which has now expired. Accordingly, the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from the minors. Jarry remained on Pittsburgh’s active roster while in the AHL so no corresponding move was needed. Meanwhile, the team has also sent winger Matt Nieto to the AHL on a conditioning loan.
Jarry got off to a particularly rocky start to his season, posting a 5.47 GAA and a .836 SV% in his first three starts. While that’s a small sample size, it was certainly cause for some concern. Accordingly, when Alex Nedeljkovic returned, Pittsburgh elected not to send youngster Joel Blomqvist back to the minors, instead keeping three goalies.
After doing that briefly, the Penguins sent Jarry back from their road trip to work with their goalie coach away from the rest of the team. After a couple of days of that, the sides decided that a stint in the minors made sense. Jarry certainly made the most of it, getting into five minor league contests, putting up a 2.16 GAA and a .926 SV% in those outings.
It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh opts to deploy Jarry. They might be inclined to give him another NHL start relatively quickly to see if he can continue his improved performance but a three-goalie rotation is often difficult to work with. Blomqvist has impressed in his first taste of NHL action and doesn’t deserve to lose much time or be sent down while Nedeljkovic is in the first season of a two-year deal signed a few months ago to keep him in the fold. For now, at least, it looks like they’ll carry three netminders and try to make it work.
As for Nieto, it has been more than 11 months since he last saw game action. The 32-year-old is coming back from a knee injury and is on LTIR. This means that his conditioning loan carries a shorter timeline than Jarry as the standard one is capped at three games and six days although two games can be added to that with league permission if it’s necessary. Nieto had four points in 22 games with Pittsburgh last season and is in the final year of his deal which carries a $900K AAV.