Penguins Are Betting Big On Young Inexperienced Goaltenders

A lot of folks might look at the Pittsburgh Penguins’ aging roster and think their biggest gamble is on an ageing core of superstars. One could also look at their defense and think the team is gambling that some right-shot defensemen can play the left side. But while those are gambles, neither is general manager Kyle Dubas’ biggest roll of the dice. Dubas is betting that two young, inexperienced goaltenders will find a new gear and become bona fide NHL goaltenders. The Penguins had the opportunity to add experience this summer between the pipes, or at the very least retain it in Stuart Skinner, but Dubas has decided that the Penguins are now Sergei Murashov and Arturs Šilovs’ team.

Last year, the Penguins made the playoffs with Šilovs and Skinner manning the net (and Tristan Jarry until he was traded). While they were just average overall, it was enough to get the Penguins into the playoffs. Skinner departed for Winnipeg in free agency, and the Penguins didn’t appear to pursue any replacement, opting instead to see what they have in Šilovs and Murashov. It is a huge gamble for a roster that is probably still good enough to compete for a playoff spot but can ill afford to have a below-replacement-level goaltender for any great length of time.

Šilovs is the most experienced of the Penguins goaltenders, and that is saying a lot given that he’s only played 58 NHL games, 39 of which came just last year. At 25, Šilovs has a .885 career SV%, which doesn’t exactly inspire a ton of optimism. However, he has had a great deal of AHL success, notching MVP honors on the way to the 2025 Calder Cup. Therein lies the nuance when it comes to Šilovs. He can be a solid, sometimes spectacular goaltender. However, he hasn’t consistently shown he can be that goaltender at the NHL level. Right now, the onus is on Šilovs to show that he is ready to be the guy. The Penguins have done everything they can to open the door for him, giving him a one-year $2.8MM contract that gives him an outright path to the starter’s job if he can show he deserves it.

Behind Šilovs, though, is a young man who is likely the most intriguing player in Pittsburgh this season: Murashov. The 22-year-old has been billed as a potential future star with the Penguins, and it’s easy to see why after his 2025-26 AHL showing last year. In 38 AHL games, Murashov posted a 2.20 GAA and a .919 SV% to go along with a 24-9-4 record. He found another gear in the playoffs, going 8-7 with a .931 SV% and a 2.11 GAA. Murashov also found his way into five NHL games last season and performed reasonably well, posting a 1-1-2 record and a .897 SV%. Those five games are such a small sample size that it’s impossible to gauge whether Murashov is ready, but the Penguins are betting that he is, even though the evidence isn’t there yet. But that’s the risk and reward, and the Penguins do have another decent bet they can make, and that is their third-string netminder Joel Blomqvist.

Make no mistake, Blomqvist is the Penguins’ insurance policy in all of this. But is he a good insurance policy? That’s up for debate, given that his NHL sample is terrible. However, his AHL sample was nearly as good as Murashov’s. Last year, the 24-year-old went 16-5-6 with a 2.40 GAA and a .913 SV%. He didn’t see any time in the playoffs, but it’s easy to see why the Penguins have optimism in their three young goaltenders. However, three successful AHL goaltenders do not equate to one established NHL starter, and that is the gamble for Dubas and company.

None of the accomplishments listed above guarantee NHL success, and goaltending is traditionally one of the hardest positions to predict because of inconsistencies and the variance a goaltender can show from one season to the next. This is why I floated the idea of a veteran safety net in an article earlier this summer, which was met with a lukewarm response. In the piece, it was noted that Matt Murray could be a good safety net, and while he is still available, the Penguins could also look at Cam Talbot or Connor Ingram.

The gamble itself would probably be fine if the Penguins were a strong defensive team, but that simply has never been the case during the Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang era. Make no mistake, the Penguins goaltenders will get shelled some nights and, on almost every night, will face an above-average number of high-danger chances. That’s not going to make life easier for the trio of inexperienced goaltenders, and it could go very badly. This wouldn’t be such a big consideration if the Penguins were an elite defensive team, but they are built to run and gun and trade chances, which will create a high-pressure environment for Šilovs, Murashov and Blomqvist.

There is a best-case scenario, though: a world where all of this works. Šilovs takes a big leap forward, Murashov lives up to the hype, and the Penguins show more defensive cohesion. If that were to happen, the Penguins would have one of the cheapest tandems in the NHL, and the door would be open to make additions elsewhere using their considerable assets. That’s the dream scenario, but weirder things have happened in the NHL, especially in Pittsburgh.

The worst-case scenario is obvious. Šilovs shows the same inconsistency as before. The NHL spotlight is too big for Murashov, and Blomqvist needs more seasoning. Suddenly, the Penguins are cooked, and it’s another lost season for Crosby and company. Or Dubas scrambles to find a starter on the trade market and finds out that December prices for goaltending are not low. Just ask Stan Bowman of the Edmonton Oilers.

A lot of media will likely take shots at Dubas over his handling of the Penguins’ goaltending if the team struggles to start the year, but the logic makes sense, and the handling of the three goalies’ contracts clearly indicates this as well. The Penguins didn’t spend big on a goaltender because they want to know what they have in these three, and if they don’t work out, the team can move on accordingly. If one of the three does, they have their goalie of the future. It really is that simple.

People would probably love the approach if the Penguins were three years away from competing for a playoff spot, but fans know how valuable Crosby’s final years are, and there is a fair argument that Dubas isn’t giving Crosby the best chance to win this year. Dubas’ job is to manage both the present and the future, and it’s fair to argue that he is doing that with his handling of the goaltending. It’s not an easy line to straddle, balancing player development while trying to help Crosby and company win now. But Dubas is trying, and he is taking a lot of risk in doing so.