The Toronto Maple Leafs should take a flyer on Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry. The Penguins placed Jarry on waivers amid a tough season.
Jarry, who’s in the second year of a five-year $26.875 million deal, hasn’t lived up to expectations in Pittsburgh. So, the club decided to send him to the AHL, hoping he could find his game and get back on track.
Unsurprisingly, Jarry cleared waivers.
I’m not surprised in the least bit that he cleared. If any team had claimed Jarry, that team would have been on the hook for Jarry’s $5.375 million cap hit. That’s not chump change. And, there are very few teams out there who could take on such a bad contract.
Toronto Maple Leafs Should Take a Flyer on this Netminder
But then again, the Toronto Maple Leafs should look into bringing Jarry into the fold. Now, I’m not talking about anointing Jarry as the team’s next starting goaltender, but as insurance to their two injury-prone starters
I’m sure that comment would raise plenty of eyebrows. Why would the Leafs take on a $5 million-plus cap hit on an AHL goalie? They wouldn't, but the chance to take on a distressed asset is there if they could get his salary retained by two teams.
So, here’s the deal: The Leafs wouldn’t actually take on the entire cap hit and pulling this off would be dependant on Pittsburgh being desperate to get out of the real dollars they have to pay Jarry. But if Pittsburgh paid another team to retain salary and get out of $2.5 million in real dollars, it would then be worth the Leafs trouble to get his salary double-retained from that team.
For a mid-round pick and a $1.25 million cap-hit, Jarry would represent a much better insurance policy than Matt Murray.
While that’s still too high for an AHL-level goalie, it does give the Leafs a solid third-string goaltender, potentially competing with Dennis Hildeby for the starting job with the Marlies.
It’s worth pointing out that Jarry is nothing more than a reclamation project at this point. But insurance, particularly when emergencies strike is something not many teams can afford.
The Leafs aren’t desperate for goaltending, but they do have two fragile starters working in tandom on their roster this year, and while they've both been great, the Leafs don't really want to have to play Matt Murrary in the playoffs. Tristen Jarry isn't as bad as he has been this year, and he may offer a better insurance policy.