A change of strategy could benefit the Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending situation in 2024.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have several questions to answer this summer, perhaps none more pivotal than their goaltending.

In-house options are available to the Penguins, but none present a reliable return in 2024. Tristan Jarry fell apart down the stretch of the season again, Alex Nedeljkovic is due a new contract, and Joel Blomqvist may or may not be ready to jump from the AHL.

It may be time for the Penguins to switch up how they select their number one goaltender.

The Penguins have had a homegrown number-one goaltender since 2004. Sebastian Caron filled the vacated position after the Penguins traded Johan Hedberg to the Vancouver Canucks.

Since then, only three goaltenders have carried the mantle of being the Penguins' number one goaltender, including Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Murray, and Tristan Jarry. All three were Penguins draft picks and grew within the organization.

While Joel Blomqvist impressed in his first season in the AHL and Russian netminder Sergei Murashov has yielded promising results, the Penguins need a bonafide number one to help them compete next season.

Recent trends have shown that bringing in a starter from outside the organization can lead to success. The Vegas Golden Knights (2023) and Colorado Avalanche (2022) won the Stanley Cup with goaltenders brought in from outside their organization.

Ten of the 22 goaltenders that have played in this year's playoffs are not homegrown talents. The Penguins could target a trade candidate like Linus Ullmark or a free-agent option like Cam Talbot.

Tristan Jarry's contract provides a bit of a roadblock, but the Penguins' best option is to offload that deal and bring in a bridge netminder to share the net with Blomqvist or another free-agent backup.

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