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Edit: Drafted 44th Overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It can often be difficult for a 17 year old goalie to make his mark in the CHL. Winning teams aren’t typically built around young goaltenders and so many 17 year olds are stuck playing behind a bad team, and its difficult to see how much of their performance is based on the goalie, and how much is based on the young players in front. Others, such as the player profiled today, Tristan Jarry, play behind a strong team but are the backup to a more experienced starting goalie.

Jarry has spent the last two seasons behind Laurent Brossoit, a draft pick of the Calgary Flames, and one of the top goalies in the WHL. Jarry played just 27 games this year, but was absolutely stellar in that limited role, putting up a 1.36 GAA, 0.936 save percentage, and 6 shutouts. Jarry also played in the CHL Top Prospects game, stopping all 16 shots he faced and being named player of the Game for Team Cherry. The sample size may be small, but the results are spectacular. The question that will face scouts and GMs on draft day will be if they roll the dice on a goalie who has such a limited body of work hoping that replicate the results next year when he will take over as the Oil Kings starter, as well as going forward.

Goalie

Born Apr 29 1995 — Delta, BC

Height 6’0.5″ — Weight 182 — Shoots Left — Catches Left

Jarry plays a very athletic, butterfly style. His technique is good and he gets in and out of the butterfly very quickly and does not leave large gaps between his legs or between his arms and body. Jarry has quick legs throwing out his pads to take away the bottom of the net. His glove hand is excellent and takes away the top corners. He moves around the crease well, with good puck tracking and the ability to go post to post with ease. His backwards skating is also solid which should allow him to challenge shooters off the rush. While having solid technique, Jarry is also very instinctive and more than just a “puck blocker” as he has great reflexes and can make the odd diving save that wouldn’t expect him to be able to get to.

Jarry likes to leave the crease and play the puck. He can often be found roaming and acts like a third defenceman. He is often successful at doing so and able to ease the pressure on his defence, or able to throw the long breakout pass when the other team gets caught on a change.

Jarry will need to get more playing time to work on his weaknesses. He’s a bit of a project and will take time to be ready for the NHL due to the fact he must get more experience in the net. He can stand to work on his rebound control, as well as his tendency to play a little deep in his crease. However the potential is there and Jarry can certainly develop into a number 1 goalie if given the time to refine his game.

Check back tomorrow for another NHL draft feature.

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