Penguins' goaltending situation just got more interesting, a little messy

If professional sports teams were a direct democracy, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry probably would have been traded for a seventh-round pick or less this summer. However, fans don’t yet get to run their favorite teams with American Idol-style voting. So, as goalies dominated NHL trade rumors, Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas acted appropriately and stood down.

In fact, it wasn’t until mid-June that Dubas re-signed backup/1A goalie Alex Nedeljkovic to a two-year, $5 million contract.

The full context of the Penguins’ goalie situation seemed set. Jarry, 29, was very good for most of last season until he was part of the Penguins’ later-season nosedive. Nedeljovic, 28, experienced a career resurgence, elevating himself from backup to a 1A-type goalie. He then started the final 14 games of the season during the Penguins’ frantic charge for the final playoff spot, which was exciting but too little, too late.

Top goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist had a stellar year with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, posting a .921 save percentage. Dubas rolled the red carpet for Blomqvist to join the NHL ranks this season if he could also be rock-solid in the AHL playoffs.

Blomqvist was not sharp in the postseason, and eventually, Dubas and crew decided to re-sign Nedeljkovic to give Blomqvist “time to breathe.”

There were three goalies at different stages of their careers: one starter, one sidecar, and one prospect on the way. The goaltending was set, right?

Wrong.

Poor Taylor Gauthier seems to be the forgotten man. Gauthier, 23, performed well backstopping the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL with a .923 save percentage. He figured to become the WBS backup behind Blomqvist.

On April 29, Dubas signed 25-year-old former Detroit Red Wings sixth-round pick Filip Larsson. After a short stint in North America at the ECHL and AHL levels prior to the COVID rampage, Larsson returned home to Sweden and the Elite League without returning. Last season, the 6-foot-2 goalie posted save percentages above .920 with Leksands IF.

It would appear Larsson and Gauthier would battle for the second chair in WBS.

Wrong again.

On Tuesday, the Penguins completed their coup by signing 2022 fourth-round pick Sergei Murashov. The Russian goalie was a late addition to Development Camp in early July, and now he’s coming to North America. The sparkling goalie has grown a couple of inches since his draft day (or is at least listed as such) to 6-foot-2.

He’s also a rapidly rising star in the prospects world, posting a .930 save percentage in Russian juniors and a .925 stopper rate in six KHL games.

That Murashov, 20, played in the KHL is a significant piece of the puzzle. He’s already played in what is arguably the second-best league in the world against professionals, including former NHL players. And he performed quite well.