Red Wings should try and poach a goaltender from “overhauling” Penguins

The Detroit Red Wings need to target a Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender to join Jonathan Bernier for the 2020-21 goaltending tandem.

The Detroit Red Wings need to recognize an opportunity they have and pounce on it to ensure they get themselves a goaltender to join Jonathan Bernier. After the Pittsburgh Penguins’ recent press conference from General Manager (GM) Jim Rutherford, an opportunity has emerged.

The recent press conference had Rutherford talking about how changes need to be made within the organization. One could imply that the Penguins can move a goaltender in the process. Especially needing a goalie, there is no reason the Red Wings should not make a move.

The way things currently stand for the Penguins goaltenders, they have both Tristian Jarry and Matt Murray as pending restricted free agents with both being arbitration-eligible. Given the way that Rutherford was talking about an overhaul, this might be an opportunity to make some moves.

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The Penguins could choose to keep Tristan Jarry, which would leave Matt Murray to become a target for the Red Wings.

If the Penguins decide to go this route, they are leaving a veteran goaltender on the board who is 26 years old. The Red Wings could offer the Penguins a deal to try and land the veteran netminder.

With a tight cap situation, the Red Wings might be able to sneak in and take advantage of this due to the flat salary cap.

Detroit Jock City Co-Expert Bob Heyrman recently suggested the Red Wings could be looking at Murray as a trade target.

Rutherford mentioned that they would like to transition on the fly, and moving a goaltender is one of the ways to ensure that this happens smoothly.

Given that Murray has the veteran experience and has seen the playoffs, they may be more apt to move him, so what happens if Rutherford opts to keep Murray and move Jarry? The Red Wings should still make a play to try and sign the younger of the two netminders.

Jarry is a 25-year-old with less experience than Murray possesses. Jarry found his way into more of a platoon role this year, playing in 33 of the games compared to Murray’s 38 games. It sure seems like he could be more than a suitable battery mate for Bernier.

The Penguins are coming into a time where they are trying to rebuild/reload on the fly and stay competitive while their time with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin slowly starts closing up. However, they will also be dealing with an expansion draft with the Seattle Kraken joining the league.

With the expansion draft approaches, the Penguins are going to be put in a similar situation if they hang on to both Jarry and Murray. They will have to part ways with one of them (most likely) as they did when the Vegas Golden Knights entered the league.

Vegas would ultimately end up with longtime Penguins netminder, Marc-Andre Fleury, and the Red Wings should be smart enough to see this happen and jump on this. They should make a phonecall over to Rutherford and see if they can kickstart this “overhaul” by taking a goaltender off his hands.

The Detroit Red Wings need to find themselves a goaltender, and this is the perfect opportunity to scoop up and grab one.