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<p>Newly acquired forward Jonathan Gruden could suit up for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as soon as next season after scoring 30 goals in 2019-20 for the OHL’s London Knights.</p>
                                 <p>London Knights</p>

Newly acquired forward Jonathan Gruden could suit up for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as soon as next season after scoring 30 goals in 2019-20 for the OHL’s London Knights.

London Knights

Matt Murray helped Pittsburgh become the only team in the NHL’s salary cap era win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

It was no surprise to folks with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The season before those two championships, he was the best goalie in the AHL.

Wednesday, then, marked the end of an era for the Penguins. Murray was traded to the Ottawa Senators, a move that will affect both the NHL and AHL clubs in net for next season and beyond.

“We would like to thank Matt for everything he’s done in his five seasons with the Penguins,” Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford said through the team. “He was instrumental to our back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, and we wish him the best.”

Pittsburgh has committed to another former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton starter, Tristan Jarry, as its top goalie. With Murray gone, that means last season’s AHL starter, Casey DeSmith, is in line to return to the NHL as Jarry’s backup.

Beyond that, the Penguins got back two assets in the trade — forward Jonathan Gruden and a second-round draft pick, No. 52 overall, which was used Wednesday to select another goalie in Finnish standout Joel Blomqvist.

One round later, Pittsburgh took another Scandinavian goalie in Sweden’s Calle Clang. Blomqvist and Clang were rated No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, among European goaltending prospects for the 2020 draft by NHL Central Scouting.

“It ended up turning out that both were available there,” Penguins director of amateur scouting Patrik Allvin said through the team. “We thought that both guys were intriguing moving forward. It turned out great that way.”

Blomqvist was the highest pick the Penguins used on a goalie since selecting Jarry 44th overall in 2013. Pittsburgh last took two goalies in the same draft in 2012, picking Murray in the third round and Sean Maguire in the fourth.

Netminders like Blomqvist and Clang typically continue their development with their European clubs for at least a season or two after they’re drafted, leaving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with some question marks in goal for 2020-21.

After Jarry and DeSmith, Pittsburgh has two other goalies under contract for next season in Emil Larmi and Alex D’Orio. Larmi, 24, appeared in nine games last season for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton behind DeSmith and veteran Dustin Tokarski, who is now a free agent.

Larmi also spent time in ECHL Wheeling with D’Orio, 21, where both struggled for a Nailers squad that was in last place when the season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The weekend may provide more clarity on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s situation in net. The free agency period is set to open Friday, and the Penguins figure to be in the market for more goaltending, perhaps someone who will become the new starter for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

“I’m comfortable with Tristan and Casey moving forward,” Rutherford said. “We are going to have to get more depth — maybe a third goaltender to keep an eye on.”

Regardless of who is in the crease for the first game under new head coach J.D. Forrest, that goalie will face some high standards set by his predecessors.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has won the Hap Holmes Award for the AHL’s lowest goals against average five times in the last 10 seasons and six times overall. That’s thanks to Jarry and DeSmith (2016-17), Murray and Jeff Zatkoff (2014-15), Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers and Eric Hartzell (2013-14), Brad Thiessen and Zatkoff (2012-13), Thiessen and John Curry (2010-11) and Dany Sabourin (2005-06).

Murray, Thiessen and Sabourin have all won the Baz Bastien Award as the AHL’s top goalie. Murray also won the Red Garrett Award as the AHL’s top rookie in that 2014-15 campaign in which he broke the league record for the longest shutout streak, going 304 minutes, 11 seconds without allowing a goal.

A season later, he recorded 15 of Pittsburgh’s 16 playoff wins en route to the 2016 Stanley Cup. Injury kept him shelved for the first half of the 2017 playoffs, but he was in net for the team’s final seven wins, including pitching back-to-back shutouts in Game 5 and Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final to clinch another Cup.

That next offseason saw Pittsburgh trade fan favorite Marc-Andre Fleury to Vegas to go with Murray, who was younger and on a more affordable contract.

But Murray never returned to his previous heights over the next three seasons. And because he is now a restricted free agent looking for a new, more expensive contract, Pittsburgh elected to trade him and go with Jarry, who made the NHL All-Star Game last season.

“Based on the cap and what we need to do going forward, this was the only option,” Rutherford said.

“Thank you, Pittsburgh for some incredible years,” Murray wrote on Instagram. “I cherished every opportunity I had to step onto the ice in a Penguins jersey. I learned so many valuable lessons, developed so many great friendships, and experienced some truly awesome moments.”

The trade could end up paying an immediate dividend for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Gruden, a 20-year-old winger who scored 30 goals last season in 59 games for his junior team, the OHL powerhouse London Knights.

“I’m just a two-way forward who likes to get in front of the net, likes to go to the dirty areas,” Gruden said on a video call with Pittsburgh media after the trade. “A very high-compete player. Can score. Can hit. Just be effective anywhere on the ice.”

A move to major junior suited Gruden well after one season in the college ranks at Miami (Ohio). Gruden is a Michigan native who is the son of former NHL defenseman John Gruden, who is now an assistant coach for the New York Islanders.

The younger Gruden was a fourth-round pick by Ottawa in 2018. Earlier that year, he was an alternate captain for the United States team that won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships.

Next season Gruden could either suit up for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or return to London as an overage player.

“Obviously, you don’t want to rush yourself,” Gruden said. “You want to develop. There’s a great development staff in Pittsburgh. I’ll work with them throughout this fall. Just kind of work my way up and just talk to them about what’s best.

“There’s really no timeframe, because I think that once you put a timeframe on it, you get too far into your head.”

Holding pattern

Of course, the elephant is still in the room when it comes to talks about next season. There’s still no telling when the puck will drop again in the AHL.

On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman revealed his league is now targeting a Jan. 1 start for the 2020-21 season after previously looking at a December return.

The AHL announced at the end of July it was tentatively starting next season on Dec. 4. The league hasn’t publicly made any changes to that timeframe as of Wednesday evening.

Both the NHL and AHL paused their seasons in mid-March because of the COVID-19 crisis. While the NHL was able to resume in August and crown the Tampa Bay Lightning as champions last week, the AHL officially canceled its playoffs back in May.

Whereas the NHL has more sources of cash flow, AHL teams rely more heavily on ticket sales and fan-related revenue. Bettman hinted that the next NHL season may have to at least start with no or few fans in the stands depending on developments in the fight against the coronavirus.

That may be a tougher obstacle for AHL teams.

Locally, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton officials got their first update in months on Tuesday when Gov. Tom Wolf altered limits on gatherings that had restricted indoor facilities to just 25 people.

Under the new guidelines, the Penguins’ Mohegan Sun Arena — which can host approximately 10,000 people for concerts and over 8,000 for hockey — can fill up to 15% of total capacity, or roughly 1,500 fans.

The Penguins averaged 5,068 fans for 31 home games in 2019-20 and have averaged between 5,000 and 6,000 fans for the last several seasons.