Tristan Jarry Motivated to Return as the Best Version of Himself

Going into the offseason, goaltender Tristan Jarry - who's been with the Penguins organization since the team traded up to take him in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft - had no desire to test unrestricted free agency.

Of course, he heard from other teams… "but it was something that Pittsburgh was the only team I was really talking to, and the only team where I really wanted to be," he said. "We've set up home in Pittsburgh, we have a beautiful house, we're in a good neighborhood. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else, really. So, it was really only about Pittsburgh… it was something where I wanted to be in Pittsburgh for a long time."

Being able to sign a five-year contract with an average annual value of $5.375 million has taken a lot of weight off of his shoulders, especially with big changes in management that had Jarry feeling even more uncertain about what the future might hold.

"It's always hard on a player when you don't know what the next year could look like or where you could be," the 28-year-old netminder said. "That was definitely something that was tough, so that's why I wanted to sign a longer contract - just knowing where I was going to be and not having anything to focus on other than my play."

Kyle Dubas, who took over as Penguins president of hockey operations just over seven weeks after the team parted ways with Brian Burke, Ron Hextall and Chris Pryor at the end of the season, said in his introductory press conference that doing a thorough evaluation of Jarry and his status in the marketplace would be a top priority.

That evaluation included Dubas visiting Tristan and his wife Hannah in Alberta, where they spend their summers on the farm he purchased in Sherwood Park, just outside of Edmonton, where he played junior hockey for the Western Hockey League's Oil Kings. Both sides came away from their time together feeling comfortable about moving forward with negotiations.

"Just to see what he's about and what his plan was for the team and what he ultimately wants to do, I think that was good," Jarry said. "It made me feel very confident in the way that the team was going. And at the end of the day, there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be. So, I was very excited that he took the time to come see me and my wife, and it showed a lot that he was there. It really helped us making that decision."

From Dubas' perspective, he said expectations for Jarry moving forward were clearly outlined, and they center around the goaltender putting himself in a position to handle a big workload and playing up to his potential. And after meeting with Jarry, Dubas felt confident Tristan will hold up his end of the bargain - agreeing to a contract that felt like the right mix of term and salary.

"Signing a long-term deal, you want to be able to perform, and you want to be able to do everything in your power to be able to perform. So, that's what the summer has been about, just being able to be healthy and push myself every day, get stronger, and just get better," Jarry said. "I think that's something that I really wanted to do and really wanted to strive for this year, is just work really close with Kyle and the strength staff and (head coach Mike Sullivan) to be able to come back the best version of myself. I think that'll do nothing but help the team."

Dubas has said that he doesn't want to make Jarry's injury situation more pronounced than it was, as he battled through to appear in 49 games last season - "which is a credit to Tristan," he said. For Dubas, it's about the bigger picture, with Jarry getting named an All-Star in two of three seasons before Islanders captain Anders Lee fell on the netminder in a game on April 12, 2022, with everything snowballing from there.

That being said, Jarry acknowledged how challenging it's been for him since that sort of freak injury, playing on a broken foot in Game 7 of the 2022 First Round matchup against the Rangers, then dealing with issues from training camp on. Jarry could never get over or ahead of his ailments, and while he put together some pretty fantastic stretches, consistency eluded him.

"It's tough to go out and be your best when you have things that are bothering you every day," Jarry said. "I was very frustrated a lot of times this season when I wasn't performing and wasn't playing up to the standards that I wanted to. There was points where I was playing well, and then there was points where I wasn't, and I think that's what frustrated me the most."

But all of that is behind him now, as Jarry has spent the last three months since the season ended getting healthy, and is back at 100%. "It's just looking forward from here, and I'm getting prepared for next season," he said.

In addition to re-signing Jarry, Dubas has made a number of other key moves to improve the team, including bringing in Alex Nedeljkovic to strengthen Pittsburgh's depth at goal and push Jarry and Casey DeSmith, which Tristan said will help all of them elevate their games.

Overall, Jarry feels like the Penguins are going to be a more competitive team, and better than they were last year - which will hopefully end in a better result.

"Obviously, for all the returning guys, we never had any thoughts that we were going to miss the playoffs last year," he said. "It was very frustrating, very upsetting that that's what happened and we weren't able to make it. I think this year, it's going to change. Things are going to change, and we're going to be a better team, and I think that we'll have a really good chance this year."