Pittsburgh Penguins: Who should stay and who should go
Like the famous song from The Clash, the Pittsburgh Penguins have to decide who stays and who goes this summer. Joking aside, it’s not an easy task at all.
This offseason will be no joke for the Pittsburgh Penguins back-office staff. They will need to debate and decide on a total of 11 different players with options to leave. Complicating the matter, even more, is the new plan for the playoffs, the draft, and the free agency period all being shuffled around like a bad deck of cards.
Of the 11 total, only 3 of them are unrestricted free agents. Meaning the option to chose who stays and grows the franchise is even more critical. In somewhat reverse fashion, we are going to talk about the elephant in the room and get it out of the way. That elephant is the Penguins 2 netminders who both are UFA’s this summer.
From fan to GM alike, we all knew this was coming at some point. The battle between the pipes for Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry has gone on basically since the beginning of the season. Murray’s missed opportunities and Jarry’s ability to take them have now made the decision even harder going forward.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Who should stay and who should go
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We could sit here and debate all day about how Murray’s lousy year shouldn’t outweigh his 2 Stanley Cup Championships, or how Jarry’s good season doesn’t have longevity, and never get a definitive answer. The truth is, this decision is going to be the hardest and most scrutinized going forward. The only strong point is that you aren’t going just to let either of them just leave.
Murray still has Fleury to thank for never really getting into the hearts of the fans. He will be worth more to resign and will probably get more bang for his buck in the trading market. With all of that in mind, selling Matt Murray and re-signing the young and honestly future of the franchise in Tristan Jarry is the hard yet desired choice for this battle.