Tristan Jarry will make his return to Pittsburgh and start as a member of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, less than one week after being traded.
The Penguins sent Jarry and forward Sam Poulin to the Oilers last Thursday in exchange for Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round pick. Jarry made his Oilers debut Saturday, stopping 25 of 28 shots in a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After spending 10 years with the Penguins, Jarry is hoping to receive a warm welcome when he takes the ice for the first time as an opponent in Pittsburgh.
“You never know. I hope in a good way,” Jarry told NHL.com. “I put my heart and soul into this team. I hope they understand that. You never want to go into a game thinking you’re going to lose. You want to win every single game that you set foot on the ice. That’s all I wanted to do, was win in Pittsburgh, and I hope I was perceived that way.”
Jarry admitted Monday he knew his name was involved in trade rumours but did not pay much attention to the noise. The trade to Edmonton came less than a year after the 30-year-old netminder cleared waivers in January following a rough 8-8-4 start to last season.
Jarry finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 16-12-6 record with a .893 save percentage and a 3.12 GAA after returning to the Penguins in March. He has a 10-3-1 record this season with a .908 save percentage and a 2.69 goals-against average.
“I think there was a choice to be made there, whether I just kind of wanted to pack it in and play out the rest of my contract there or if I wanted to make a choice and be better for it,” Jarry said of bouncing back with a stint in the AHL. “Being able to have that choice and being able to do that, I think, brought me back as a better goalie and a better person. That’s ultimately what I wanted to do.”
The Surrey, B.C. native is currently playing in the third season of a five-year, $26.88 million contract and carries a cap hit of $5.38 million.
It’s possible Jarry could go head-to-head with Skinner on Tuesday night. The Penguins activated their new goaltender and Kulak on Monday after delays due to immigration.
Skinner, 27, has an 11-8-4 record this season with a .891 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA.
