Here’s every NHL team’s player to watch break out this year
By Paul Grant
Pittsburgh Penguins: Tristan Jarry
The Penguins are always a difficult nut to crack when it comes to breakout players. See, they have this pesky habit of bringing in low-salary guys from out of nowhere (Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, to name two) who suddenly become key cogs in the championship-contending machine. Sure, getting reps on lines with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the best 1-2 center punch in the world, ain’t gonna hurt your chances.
This season, the breakout could reasonably come from a guy like Daniel Sprong, Zach Aston-Reese or Linus Olund. But I’m going with goalie Tristan Jarry. The backup to two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray will get another shot at being the top dog this season and won’t mess it up. Murray is great and all, but his durability is in question, which makes for some nail-biting times when you’ve got Crosby and Malkin firing pucks at you in practice and warmups. I’m by no means wishing bad mojo on Murray, but injuries happen, and Jarry will step up and save the day for the stacked Penguins.
Pushing him in this direction is that he’s on a two-way deal this season but a one-way deal for next year, which means the audition is on. If he breaks down instead of breaking out this year, at 23, the Penguins will want to start seeing other people.