Zach questions Tristan Jarry about his exceptional goaltending of late, 2025, colorized. 

As you may recall, I was originally going to write about the NHL trade deadline last week before the Steelers decided to trade for DK Metcalf the night before. By the way, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson still have yet to sign contracts a week after NFL free agency commenced. The Steelers brought back a friendly face in Mason Rudolph on a two-year, $8-million deal as a plan-C (or as a backup) as they await the geriatric contingent of free agent quarterbacks to make their decisions about where they will be playing in September. 

As we wait for that to happen, let us discuss the phenomenal trade deadline that Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas had on Friday, March 7th, and the subsequent fallout over the ensuing nine-plus days. 

It actually began a few days prior, when Dubas traded Michael Bunting—a key piece in the Jake Guentzel trade from the previous season—and a fourth round pick to the Predators in exchange for veteran defenseman Luke Schenn and forward Tommy Novak, the latter of whom was a perceived “analytics darling”. This, admittedly, was a bit of a head scratcher for me, as Bunting had been productive when healthy, but it would make more sense in the coming days. 

On the 7th, Dubas turned shit into gold. He flipped middling forward Anthony Beauvillier to Washington for a second-rounder. He traded Luke Schenn, who was acquired less than 48 hours prior, to Winnipeg for a 2026 second-rounder and a 2027 fourth—in essence, the Bunting trade was Bunting and a 2026 fourth for Novak, a 2026 second, and a 2027 fourth. He traded bottom-six forward Cody Glass—who was acquired in the offseason with draft picks as a salary dump by Nashville—and Johnathan Gruden for two prospects and a 2027 third-round pick. He traded a 2025 fifth-rounder to Toronto for defenseman Conor Timmins and forward Connor Dewar.  

If you want a recap, Dubas traded mid-level players for picks and prospects, getting hockey clubs to overpay for players that did not perform especially well in Pittsburgh. In doing so, he set the franchise up well for what could be an expedited rebuild. This could be furthered by the Pens securing a high draft pick, which seemed likely considering how poorly the team was playing, compounded with the now-depleted Major-league talent on the roster. 

I hate rooting against Pittsburgh sports teams, but I was hoping the Penguins would “embrace the tank”, as they say, and continue to lose. Tristan Jarry was recalled from Wilkes-Barre, where he was sent after miserable performances in the NHL. My hope was that he would continue to struggle at the highest level of professional hockey. 

Long story short, the Penguins have won all four games that they have played since the trade deadline. Jarry stopped 29 of 30 shots against the Minnesota Wild in a 3-1 victory, 35 of 37 in a 3-2 overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights, 33 of 36 in a 5-3 triumph over the St. Louis Blues, and 24 of 27 in a 7-3 walloping of the New Jersey Devils. That is good for a .930 save percentage and a 2.25 goals against average, both far superior numbers to what he had before his demotion. 

Why now? Why does he have to play well now? This is the time to lose! They still will not make the playoffs. The Penguins have played more games than any other Eastern Conference team and still sit six points out of a playoff spot at the time of writing. Obviously, you get paid to win. It is just annoying that they start playing well when there is hardly any incentive to winning, with the playoffs essentially being out of reach. 

Maybe Jarry will improve his trade value if he keeps playing this well? Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov are forming a great goaltending tandem in the minors, and any assets that can be recouped for Jarry after his abysmal start to the season would be a plus. 

Hopefully, the Penguins can get lucky in the draft lottery. I will not be holding my breath. They will probably keep winning and miss the playoffs by a very slim margin, as has been the case each of the past two years.