Keeping Jarry would give the Penguins time for both things to click into place — Blomqvist to complete his development, plus Jarry resuscitating his trade stock with a strong season.

It doesn't guarantee the Penguins will trade Jarry next season, but it could allow them to recoup better value.

Jarry and Nedeljkovic finished with a 5-on-5 save percentage of .912 last season, per Natural Stat Trick, which was tied for 17th in the NHL. This with the ups, downs and injuries that we saw in Jarry's game, as he saw his four-season streak of winning at least 20 games end.

In 48 starts, Jarry had a 2.91 goals-against average and .903 save percentage, both low points for him since the 2019-20 campaign. Trading Jarry now would be the definition of selling an asset at its lowest point.

I also question what the Penguins' next move would or could be if they deal Jarry, at least immediately.

Starting the season with Nedeljkovic and Blomqvist seems aggressive. There's a legitimate argument for adding someone in free agency, and I wouldn't hate the addition of Cam Talbot, Ilya Samsonov or Anthony Stolarz to pair with Nedeljkovic, though the Penguins obviously have no guarantee that move happens.

We should also take a sober look at what Nedeljkovic has been throughout his career — a backup — and how he finished last season: with an .867 save percentage and 3.99 GAA over his final six games.

Over the previous four seasons, Nedeljkovic averaged 30 starts and with a 2.98 goals-against average and .906 save percentage compared to 2.68 and .912 for Jarry over the past five, the latter with more than twice as many shutouts.

It's why I'm not rushing to trade Jarry simply because he had a subpar year, battled injuries and (fair) questions remain regarding his ability to win a playoff series.

If the Penguins' recent history of winning the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons tells us anything, it's that you need multiple goalies. You can also look around the NHL right now and find a bunch of outstanding tandems, a trend that Dubas and Sullivan are obviously aware of, as well.

Perhaps this functions like Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray pushing one another, or a belief that former general manager Jim Rutherford emphasized to me often — that he'd ideally like to have a timeshare to keep his No. 1 guy fresh.

It's fair to wonder who that ultimately becomes with Nedeljkovic re-signing. But it's not a crime to spend a little less than $8 million on goaltending and let two guys battle it out.

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