General Manager Ray Shero has been very busy this summer so far when it comes to keeping his core in tact and bringing back free agent acquisitions such as Rob Scuderi and Pascal Dupuis. The Penguins are $676,667 in cap space under the $64,300,000 million limit. However, with two qualifying offers on the table to Dustin Jeffrey and Robert Bortuzzo and the recent signing of Forward Matt D’Agostini to a one year contract worth about 550,000. The Penguins will be over the cap. Ray Shero is now faced with the decision of what to do with quite possibly the best regular season goaltender the last 5 years, Marc-Andre Fleury.
There has been talk of buying out his contract that has two years and ten million left. The buyout would cost the Penguins 7.7 million. Fleury, however is not worth that type of money right now and trading him would make much more sense. One would firmly believe that a, “change of scenery” would do wonders for Fleury in gaining back his confidence. As we know, Fleury has been down right awful the past two playoffs. In the quarterfinal series against the Philadelphia Flyers, Fleury posted an abysmal 4.63 goals against average and an .834 Save Percentage which is a new record in a playoff series last held by Jim Carey of the Washington Capitals. Fleury followed up that performance this year with an eye opening 3.52 goals against average and a .883 save percentage against the Islanders.
Enter Jaroslav Halak, the 28 year old net minder finds himself in an interesting situation with the St. Louis Blues, with both Brian Elliott and youngster Jake Allen now competing for the starting job in net with him. Halak played in 16 games last year for the St. Louis Blues and posted a 2.14 goals-against average before being overtaken by Brian Elliott. Two seasons ago, Halak played in 46 games, posting a remarkable 1.92 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage, along with six shutouts. Halak is a great goaltender who could come into Pittsburgh and compete with Vokoun for the starting job. The Pens would also save millions in this trade and have more flexibility under the cap. Halak has a career goals against average of 2.41 and save percentage of .917 .
Let’s also not forget that the Pittsburgh Penguins traded up six spots in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft to select, Tristan Jarry, the number 3 ranked North American goaltender. In 2013, Jarry posted a record of 18-7 and had a league-best 1.61 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. His six shutouts were tied for second-most in the WHL. In two seasons with the Oil Kings, Jarry has appeared in 41 career regular-season games, going 26-9-1 with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
There is no question that the Pens are taking a risk drafting a goalie so high in the draft, but obviously the Penguins must have really wanted Jarry and see full potential in him as an everyday NHL starter. Unfortunately, this spells the end for Marc Andre Fleury, who could really use a, “Change of Scenery.”
