Pittsburgh Penguins attempting to improve goaltending
The Pittsburgh Penguins need to go all-in this year. Their window is closing incredibly quickly, and it is hard to imagine the team having much success as their core ages further.
While they are relatively stacked at forward, and look about average on defense, there are questions in net. While Tristan Jarry is very talented, injury woes and inconsistency are question marks when it comes to a playoff starter. Casey DeSmith is a fine backup, but he is very unlikely to be a competent playoff starter.
It is thus expected that the Penguins will work hard to acquire a goalie at the deadline. The only problem with this, however, is that the market is incredibly thin.
Pittsburgh is right up against the salary cap, so they'd have to get creative when it comes to a move. More cap-controlled goalies, such as Jeremy Swayman and Samuel Montmbault are unlikely to move, and the young goalie prospects ready to make the jump, such as Lukas Dostal and Jesper Wallstedt would be abhorrently expensive to acquire.
Veteran goalies will inevitably be difficult to acquire, as desirable as a guy like Thatcher Demko or John Gibson would be.
This ultimately leaves Pittsburgh with a very small pool of options, such as Anton Khudobin, Alex Nedelkjovic, or Joonas Korpisalo.
None of these players scream playoff starter, but their combined effort could get Pittsburgh a little further.
We will see if the Pens try and go for the big fish, or if they'll hedge their bets on their team as it stands.
Credit Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Pittsburgh penguins trade talk: available goalies casey desmith tristan jarry
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Pittsburgh Penguins should acquire a goalie at the trade deadline? | ||
| Yes | 41 | 63.1 % |
| No | 24 | 36.9 % |
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