The Vancouver Canucks declined greater offers or at least the possibility of greater offers for 24-year-old netminder Arturs Silovs, instead trading him to the Pittsburgh Penguins because the Penguins had the best opportunity for Silovs to stick in the NHL. Now the question becomes, what is Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry worth?
Reportedly, Vancouver management told the Edmonton Oilers there wasn’t a price Edmonton could pay for Vancouver to trade Silovs to a conference rival. So, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas snagged the goalie for a fourth-round pick.
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Silovs’s resume reads a bit more like Kennywood’s Thunderbolt. It is short with incredible high points, but it has also included some rapid descents from those thrilling moments. He was a star for Latvia at the 2023 World Championships as the little country that annually serves as a warmup for traditional powers charged to the semi-final and beat Team USA for the bronze medal.
After injuries to Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Silovs led a Canucks Round One comeback series win. Vancouver also pushed Edmonton to seven games before losing.
Yet, last season he had a mere .861 save percentage in 10 games.
On the surface, it seems Jarry and Silovs would be the Penguins’ goalie tandem into the season. However, Jarry’s future has been tenuous since the team waived him last January at the low point of a confidence-rattling season. Many Penguins fans have never forgiven Jarry for his disastrous performance against the New York Islanders in the 2021 playoff series; the Penguins outplayed the Islanders but lost in six games.
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However, the Penguins are building toward the future, and the 30-year-old Jarry’s inclusion in that is dubious.
Persistent speculation links Jarry to the goalie-poor Edmonton club, which was strongly interested in Silovs. Edmonton has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for two years running, but goaltending has been a nagging issue. Starter Stuart Skinner has lifted the team with a few playoff hot streaks, but has not been consistently good.
Unfortunately, the recent goalie market indicates prices are bargain bin at best. Jarry’s career save percentage remains healthy at .909, and despite perceptions, he is a two-time All-Star. Given recent performances, his salary cap figure of $5.375 million is less than ideal, and he has three more seasons remaining, but it’s far from a deal breaker.
After all, the Penguins cannot eat salary on every veteran they might want to trade.
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Recent Goalie Trades
In the 2024-25 NHL season, there were a handful of goalies shuffled around via the NHL trade market.
On June 28, Detroit acquired John Gibson from Anaheim for backup goalie Petr Mrazek, a 2027 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-rounder. Gibson’s career save percentage is .910, but the soft Anaheim rebuild takes most of the blame for his several-year stretch of mediocre numbers.
A second and fourth-round pick is not out of the question for Jarry, especially if some salary retention is involved. Gibson’s cap hit is $6.4 million for this season and next, but Gibson was viewed as far less of a risk than Jarry.
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On June 26, the Florida Panthers acquired fading Columbus Blue Jackets backup goalie/prospect Daniil Tarasov for a fifth-round pick. This is probably a closer gauge to Penguins goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist’s value, though Tarasov is 26.
On March 7, Detroit acquired Mrazek and depth forward Craig Smith for 25-year-old Joe Veleno, who had not lived up to his potential in Detroit. This trade would represent Jarry’s low-value mark.
It should be noted that several goalie trades within the 2024-25 season were goalie-for-goalie swaps, such as Justus Annunen for Scott Wedgewood and Chris Driedger for Kaapo Kahkonen.
In 2023-24, goalies had a little higher value. The Vegas Golden Knights traded Logan Thompson, who had fallen to second or third on their depth chart, to the Washington Capitals for a pair of third-round picks.
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The New Jersey Devils paid a steep price to acquire Jacob Markstrom, including a first-round pick, but that would not correlate with Jarry’s current value.
One trade in 2023-24 that might be relevant to the current value is Montreal trading Jake Allen to New Jersey for a 2025 third-round pick.
While it might not be the answer many Penguins want, the recent goalie trades appear to set the market somewhere between receiving a second and fourth-round pick or receiving a third-rounder, also receiving out-of-favor young players notwithstanding.
The next question the Penguins will have to answer is regarding Silovs’s and Blomqvist’s readiness.
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