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<\/a><\/p>\nWith Alex Nedeljkovic injured to start the 2024-25 season, Joel Blomqvist got the call for his first NHL start ahead of Game 2.<\/p>\n
The Penguins had come out of the gate flat-footed with a 6-0 shutout at home against the visiting New York Rangers. When the team put together a 6-3 win in Detroit in front of Blomqvist, he was shuttled to the front of the starting order.<\/p>\n
Blomqvist went on to start four of the Pens\u2019 first six games, recording a .908 save percentage over the stretch to secure his place over Jarry as Nedeljkovic\u2019s backup when he returned from injury two weeks into the season.<\/p>\n
A quick recap on the Penguins\u2019 goaltending shuffle since then: Jarry came back into the rotation in late November and eventually reclaimed his starting role. Jarry was then sent to the AHL in January, at which point Blomqvist returned to the NHL as a backup to Nedeljkovic.<\/p>\n
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said<\/a> at the time: \u201cWe think over the past year and a half, with his play in Wilkes-Barre and when he\u2019s been up here with us, he\u2019s earned the right to have a go at it and we get a chance to see what he can do in a prolonged look.\u201d<\/p>\n From head coach Mike Sullivan<\/a> at the time, about what stood out about the goaltender: \u201cJust his athleticism, his competitiveness. He competes hard on pucks. He\u2019s really athletic. His lateral ability, his lateral agility, his ability to get post to post, is exciting. He\u2019s a good goaltender. He\u2019s played extremely well in Wilkes. We thought he played well for us, in the beginning of the year when he was here.\u201d<\/p>\n But that next look didn\u2019t pan out for the rookie netminder. Blomqvist struggled over that stretch, during which his save percentage dropped to .854 over seven games. His last start of the season was a 6-5 overtime loss to the Toronto Leafs on March 2.<\/p>\n The Penguins finished out the season with Jarry once more in the starting role, while Blomqvist spent the end of the AHL campaign sidelined by an injury.<\/p>\n Blomqvist ended the NHL season with a .885 save percentage and 381 GAA in 15 games (12 starts) with the Penguins. While playing for Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton whenever Jarry was back in the NHL mix, he registered a .914 SV% and 2.84 GAA in 18 AHL games.<\/p>\n Now Nedeljkovic has been traded<\/a> to the San Jose Sharks, and The Athletic\u2019s Josh Yohe<\/a> reported that although the Penguins are \u201ccertainly willing\u201d to move Jarry they haven\u2019t been able to find a buyer for his contract.<\/p>\n There are meanwhile new entrants to the rotation battle. The Penguins acquired<\/a> 24-year-old Arturs Silovs, who was just named the Calder Cup Playoff MVP for his work with the AHL\u2019s Abbotsford Canucks, in July.<\/p>\n Sergei Murashov is likely to make the jump from the ECHL to the AHL next season, where Filip Larsson could play alongside him. Silovs meanwhile has a shot to compete with Blomqvist to play alongside Jarry.<\/p>\n When Dubas spoke about the goaltender roster battle in April, prior to the Nedeljkovic and Silovs trades, he said that Blomqvist and Murashov were \u201cstill in competition.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSergei is leading Wheeling in the playoffs and Joel will start with (Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton) on Wednesday against Lehigh Valley,\u201d Dubas said in April (h\/t Penguins team reporter Michele Crechiolo<\/a>). \u201cThose are two massive developmental opportunities for the two of them, and they\u2019re very important development opportunities for us to continue to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n Blomqvist was injured in that playoff loss to Lehigh Valley, and the ultimately Penguins traded for Silovs three months later.<\/p>\n Dubas\u2019 decision to trade for Silovs could be a sign of some internal uncertainty that Blomqvist is, as the organization had seemingly previously indicated, the Penguins\u2019 goaltender of the future.<\/p>\n There is the possibility that the uncertainty with Jarry and Nedeljkovic\u2019s struggles last season led to the organization giving Blomqvist more NHL playing time than he was ready for in his first campaign, and that further development could lead him to a more successful second campaign in the NHL.<\/p>\n After all, the netminder is just 23, and NHL.com ranked him as one of the league\u2019s top 10 goalies under the age of 25. NHL.com\u2019s Kevin Woodley<\/a> cited his height of 6-foot-3 and the overall struggles of the Penguins\u2019 defense last season as justification for naming Blomqvist to the list.<\/p>\n What role Blomqvist plays with the Penguins next season will hinge on both whether the team is able to find a trade partner for Jarry\u2014 and the more than $16 million remaining<\/a> on his contract\u2014 as well as how much Silovs is able to impress in training camp.<\/p>\n Seeing as the possible roles Blomqvist could take on with the Penguins organization next season range from becoming a part of a starting tandem to returning to the AHL, his name will be one of the biggest and most important question marks on the roster as the team prepares for the September start of training camp.<\/p>\n