Goaltender Casey DeSmith grateful to be back with Penguins

In a strictly pecuniary sense, last season was outstanding for Casey DeSmith.

He made a seven-figure salary for the first time in his life, having signed a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1.25 million in January of 2019.

At the same time, for all the blessings that contract provided, it also limited him.

It was the reason he spent the vast majority of the season in the American Hockey League (AHL).

In September 2019, DeSmith and Tristan Jarry were in an open competition to serve as the backup to starter Matt Murray. With each holding serve by most measures, the Penguins, pressed against the salary cap, made a decision based strictly on economics.

Jarry, with a salary cap hit of $675,000, got the job while DeSmith became one of the highest-paid goaltenders in the AHL.

DeSmith never hid his disappointment in the demotion but understood it, and he found benefit in it.

“Being down in (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), obviously, was unexpected,” DeSmith said via video conference with media Friday. “I would have rather been here. But it was a great learning experience for me. It was probably my first time in pro hockey where I was the bona fide starter for a whole year. I learned how to manage the workload of a starting goalie, which was really helpful. Learned what works, what doesn’t as far as maintaining my body and stuff like that. Then just the grind of playing more games. It’s definitely something that’s real. It’s a challenge that I was happy to have a chance to embrace … and be a little bit better.”

Playing for a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins squad that struggled to stay in playoff contention for most of the season, DeSmith appeared in 41 games and had a record of 18-18-2, a 2.92 goals-against average, a .905 save percentage and three shutouts.

With Murray jettisoned via trade in October, DeSmith once again is inhabiting the NHL team’s backup gig he held in 2018-19. And he’s once again a backup to Jarry, a role he held throughout the ’16-17 and ’17-18 seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

“Because we were together quite a bit in (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and then … we kind of flip-flopped a bunch (at the NHL level) the last two years and now we’re finally together again, I think that comfortability level is huge,” said DeSmith, 29. “We’ve learned how to support each other pretty well. We’ve learned what each other likes, what each other doesn’t like as far as taking the net and pregame stuff and warmups and all that stuff. We just don’t really have to learn anything else about each other. It definitely adds a little bit of comfort. Then we had (goaltending coach Mike Buckley) when we were together in (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), too. The three of us being back together again is really nice.”

Given the unique circumstances of playing during a pandemic, this season will be orchestrated with a condensed schedule. That means DeSmith likely will get his fair share of starts.

He sees some parallels to how the AHL’s schedule typically is formatted.

“We definitely experienced sometimes ‘three-in-threes’ (sequences of games on three consecutive days) in the AHL,” DeSmith said. “Thankfully, we don’t see any ‘three-in-threes’ this year. But I think just having that experience … it can’t hurt. We’ve learned how to take care of our bodies and learned how to approach those (games on consecutive days) from a maintenance standpoint and adequate rest. It’s nice that I’m with Tristan this year. We had a lot of experience in kind of a similar scenario a couple of years ago together.”

Given what he experienced last season and the uncertain nature of this season, DeSmith takes little for granted.

No matter the circumstances, he is grateful simply to be back in the NHL.

“I got close with these guys, this group of guys, when I was up here a couple of years ago,” DeSmith said. “So to be back and be back in the net and hanging out with the guys is great. Especially because (the pandemic) was tough for everybody, just kind of the isolation part of it and not being around your buddies all the time. Just being around the rink is nice.”