PITTSBURGH _ "Goaltending is 75% of your hockey team, unless you don't have it. Then it's 100 percent." _ Harry Neale, legendary broadcaster, retired coach.
The Penguins have it, all right, in spades. They are the exception. As when they won Stanley Cups in 2016 and '17, they have two No. 1 goalies. Both homegrown, which is even more unusual.
Lots of teams can't find one dependable goalie. People lose jobs chasing the position. Ask Ray Shero about that. The New Jersey Devils just fired him. He couldn't find a goalie. Ask the Philadelphia Flyers about chasing goalies (although they might finally have one in Carter Hart).
The Penguins face a different kind of problem, one most teams would welcome: a goalie "controversy" with no bad choice. They'll need to pick from their two starters for the playoffs this year and for the seasons beyond. They might choose as early as this summer, when Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray can be restricted free agents.
In the meantime, the Penguins own an enormous competitive advantage over most teams: They have a good goalie every night.
They probably can't go wrong in tabbing their future guy, either, just like they couldn't go wrong when they had to choose between Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury two years ago, although there really wasn't much of a choice. Murray was much younger and much cheaper and had just won two Stanley Cups (with a giant assist from Fleury in 2017).
But even if the Penguins had stunningly traded Murray and kept Fleury, they probably wouldn't regret the decision, given how well Fleury has performed since he left.
In some places, a goalie controversy might split the locker room. Not here. Not in Sidney Crosby's room. Not with Mike Sullivan and Jim Rutherford at the top of the organizational depth chart.
Sullivan is a straight shooter with a deft touch for choosing the right guy at the right time. Rutherford is an old goalie himself, so he knows the psychology of the position. He also knows that development can take time, as in Jarry's case.
It's still fair to ask, by the way, if Jarry is the real deal. His NHL resume basically consists of two good months. He has seen his numbers dip in January (3-4 record, .907 save percentage) and has yet to experience the crucible of playoff hockey.
And yet, everything I see tells me Jarry remains a rising star. Everyone I talk to who knows the position tells me the same.
Speaking of which, and speaking of old goalies, I chatted with ex-Penguins Ken Wregget and Frank Pietrangelo on Thursday. Both believe Jarry has lasting power. They love his puck-handling ability _ "He reminds me of Tommy (Barrasso) in that respect," Wregget said _ his athleticism, his positioning and his demeanor.
They also appreciate the benefits of a good, old-fashioned goalie competition.
"Murray is trying to prove himself, too," Pietrangelo said. "He has been through a lot, replacing Fleury, who was a legendary figure, almost as legendary as Frank Pietrangelo (laughs). No, he's a tough kid. I think the competition helps both of them, and you need two goalies in the playoffs."
Jarry is a full year younger and will be cheaper, which could prove to be the difference in who's playing goal for the Penguins next season and beyond. But there's a ton of hockey to be played between now and then. We also don't know what Murray will ask for in contract negotiations. Nothing less than what his comparable contemporaries _ John Gibson, Connor Hellebuyck, etc. _ are making, I would imagine, and that is more than $6 million per year.
That's about what Washington's Braden Holtby makes, too, and his situation speaks to how volatile the goalie position can be. He finally broke through two years ago and won a Cup, seemingly setting himself up for one more big contract. But that was before Ilya Samsonov, a first-round pick from 2015, arrived this season and became the Russian version of Jarry, with a .927 save percentage in 19 games (Samsonov hails from Evgeni Malkin's hometown of Magnitogorsk).
So the Capitals also have two good homegrown goalies, and big choices to make.
It's not a bad place to be.
