I feel a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of Penguins fans cried out in terror then were suddenly silenced.
Tristan Jarry has been called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and I know that fan reaction is going to be quite unfavorable with the move.
The Penguins have recalled goaltender Tristan Jarry from the @WBSPenguins (AHL).
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 3, 2025
Goaltender Joel Blomqvist has been re-assigned to WBS. pic.twitter.com/LPH7p1cpc3
Many of you probably won't like it, but at this point in the season with the current state of the team, this is most definitely the right move.
The Blomqvist Breakdown
Joel Blomqvist had a terrible run since getting called up when Jarry was placed on waivers last month. His best game came in relief of Alex Nedeljkovic against the Flyers where he stopped 22 of 23 shots and urged the Penguins to a dramatic overtime win.
Otherwise...yeah, don't look too closely at the stat sheet. Aside from the Flyers win, Blommer has not only lost every game he's played in since January 18th, but his save percentage in those games has been under .900.
Before Philly, Blomqvist hadn't factored into a Penguins win since November. Overall this season he's given up 3.81 goals per game and has a save percentage of .885.
He's just not ready. The early season hype around Blomqvist was well founded, especially in proxy to Tristan Jarry, who was struggling mightily. But now as the team has a losing direction and initiative, there's no reason to kill Blomqvist's confidence anymore.
The goals he's been letting up are bad ones. That's not to say that Nedeljkovic wasn't letting up bad goals, but the difference between the two is youthfulness. Blommer is 23 and still can become a solid NHL goalie.
Nedeljkovic has been around. He's a big boy. Confidence has already been established. Blomqvist doesn't have that yet. After giving up a softie in one of the recent games, Sidney Crosby went over to encourage his goaltender.
He's still a baby Penguin, and he'll undoubtedly be back, but right now he can't afford to get his cage rattled any more.
My personal desire for Blomqvist in this stretch was for him to play against the best offensive teams and be put through the wringer to get a flavor for what high-octane NHL offenses looked like. Toronto fits that bill, and he didn't field it well.
And that's okay. We saw what we were getting, and now we know. Now Blomqvist knows what he needs to work on back in WBS. The Baby Penguins are having one of their best seasons in years, and now Blomqvist gets a chance to reacquire some confidence on a winning team.
That's what he deserves. Not being the tank commander for a sorry Pittsburgh team.
Welcome Back, Jarry
Tristan Jarry now has that responsibility. Jarry's last game was on January 14th, and he'll be seeing his first NHL action likely very soon against some good teams.
Here's the challenge for all you Penguins fans: don't whine.
If Jarry lets in a bad one, or if it's a first shot goal (which Nedeljkovic seems to love as well), just get over it. A tank commander drives the tank. A good tank commander protects the tank.
Not the net. The tank.
Goals against the Penguins are a good thing. And when Jarry inevitably turns back into a Vezina candidate for a game or two, Pittsburgh fans will find a way to complain again.
The Penguins are not making the playoffs, so let's just let Jarry do his work and let it happen. A bottom five pick is the goal.