Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry cleared waivers on Thursday and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).
In a corresponding transaction, goaltending prospect Joel Blomqvist was formally recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
These transactions were anticipated after the Penguins opted to move on — temporarily, at least — from Jarry, the team’s would-be franchise goaltender.
Jarry has struggled considerably this season. In 22 games, he has an 8-8-4 record, a 3.31 goals against average and an .884 save percentage. His malfunctioning play to open the season was so severe, the team sent him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a conditioning assignment in late October.
During his previous stint with the AHL Penguins, Jarry appeared in five contests and posted a 4-1-0 record, a 2.16 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.
Jarry is in the second year of a five-year contract that carried a salary cap hit of $5.375. With him on the AHL roster, the Penguins may trim $1.15 million of that cap hit from their overall cap figure per league rules.
Blomqvist is making a return to the NHL roster. Due to a preseason injury suffered by incumbent goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, Blomqvist open the 2024-25 season on the NHL roster and worked in two different platoons, first with Jarry while Nedeljkovic was recovering then with Nedeljkovic while Jarry was serving his conditioning stint.
Making his NHL debut this season, Blomqvist has appeared in eight games and has a 3-5-0 record, a 3.60 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2024-25, Blomqvist has played in 12 contests and posted a 6-4-2 record, a 2.93 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and one shutout.
A native of Finland, Blomqvist enjoyed his first full season in North America with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the 2023-24 campaign and was selected as an AHL All-Star. Last season, he played in 45 games and posted a 25-12-6 record, a 2.16 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and one shutout.
Blomqvist, 23, is in the second year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $886,667. He a second-round pick (No. 52 overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft. The Penguins acquired that pick via a trade that sent former starting goaltender Matt Murray to the Ottawa Senators during that draft.
