CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Dustin Tokarski was supposed to be the Penguins' third goaltender back in 2019-20.
Things didn't quite work out the way he anticipated back then.
Three years later, Tokarski is back in the Penguins' organization. And this time, he has his sights set a little higher than No. 3.
Tokarski, 33 years old and listed at 6 feet, 198 pounds, was one of the Penguins' first signings on the opening day of free agency, putting pen to paper on a one-year, one-way contract worth $775,000. It's his second stint in the Penguins' organization, but first in which he is locked into an NHL contract.
When Tokarski signed with the Penguins in 2019, it was an AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, a deal that carried with it an invite to the main training camp. At the time, the Penguins had Matt Murray and Casey DeSmith returning from the year prior, and a young Tristan Jarry ready to make the jump from the AHL to a role in the NHL.
The thinking at the time was that it seemed unlikely DeSmith would be around much longer. It was his first year of waivers-eligibility, and he was coming off of a successful season as a backup that saw him play 36 games. With Murray and Jarry looking like the tandem for Pittsburgh, the Penguins could have either traded DeSmith or tried to sneak him down to the minors on waivers. It seemed unlikely that he would clear, given that he was a proven capable backup at the NHL level.
I spoke with Tokarski at Pittsburgh's camp that year, and he told me that he had turned down NHL contracts elsewhere in order to join a winning organization with the Penguins, albeit on an AHL deal. I spoke with Tokarski again at Day 1 of camp on Thursday this week, and he confirmed what I suspected was the case at the time. The Penguins would put DeSmith on waivers and hope he cleared and could be sent down. But if he didn't clear, the plan was to sign Tokarski to an NHL contract and have him assume the No. 3 job.
DeSmith, though, ended up clearing waivers. He took on the role of Wilkes-Barre's starter, and Tokarski shared the backup role with Emil Larmi. He never got his NHL deal with Pittsburgh.
"Without hiding it, there was some belief that it would be tough (to keep DeSmith) whether it was a trade or waiver pickup," Tokarski told me. "But with sports, you never know. It never happened. And actually, there were no injuries that year. So there wasn't a call up or any need to sign me to that deal. But it's different management now, and I'm excited to be here. They're willing to commit to me and make me part of the group. I'm excited."
While management is different now, there's still some familiarity with the coaching staff for Tokarski, which made it more appealing for him to sign here. His head coach with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19 and then Wilkes-Barre in 2019-20 was Mike Vellucci, now an assistant coach in Pittsburgh. Wilkes-Barre's current head coach J.D. Forrest was an assistant before. And Andy Chiodo, current head goaltending coach in the organization, was the goaltending development coach in Wilkes-Barre when Tokarski was last there.
Just like before, Tokarski was also drawn in by the opportunity to join what he still views as a winning organization.
"Just like before, it's a good organization," he said. "It's a good group of goalies, last year showed that stuff happens and you want to have some depth. We all want to be a part of this group and help achieve the goal to win another Stanley Cup. Every year that's a goal with an organization like this, and I'm here to help."
That "stuff happens" is of course Louis Domingue finding himself in net in Game 1 of the playoffs after injuries to Jarry and DeSmith. Domingue was the hero in Game 1, holding on to help the Penguins claim a triple-overtime victory to open the series. He ended up looking very much like the career No. 3 he is by the end of the series, forcing Jarry to come in for Game 7 despite his broken foot not being fully healed.
Initial impressions are that Tokarski, if he is the No. 3 goaltender, is an upgrade over Domingue. When he was in Wilkes-Barre before, he had a total of 34 career NHL games stemming from No. 3 roles with the Lightning, Rangers, Canadiens and Ducks over the years. In the two years after leaving Wilkes-Barre, he became an NHL regular with Buffalo. He was part of a rotating goaltending carousel the Sabres used in the 2020-21 season, dressing in 13 games. Last season Tokarski and Craig Anderson split the starts fairly evenly over the course of the year, and Tokarski got to play in 29 games. The rebuilding Sabres hovered around the bottom of the league's standings all year, so none of their goaltenders had great stat lines. Tokarski had the best save percentage of any of the goaltenders who played in at least 10 games at .899, and he had a goals-against average of 3.27.
Tokarski feels that he's coming back to the Penguins stronger than he was before now that he has that extended NHL experience on his resume.
"I'm confident, I feel good," he told me. "It was a good couple of years in Buffalo. There was a lot going on there for a few years, but I got to play and really get established there."
When I spoke with Tokarski three years ago at camp, I asked him how he felt about being a mentor to the incoming rookie AHL goaltenders in Larmi and Alex D'Orio, and he spoke about looking forward to helping them become professionals and let his "calm demeanor, veteran presence do the talking for itself." The Penguins' minor-league system is going to have two rookie goaltenders again this year in Filip Lindberg and Taylor Gauthier, plus a young AHL-contracted goaltender in Tommy Nappier.
I asked Tokarski about taking on that sort of veteran mentor role again, and his answer was a little different this time. Now that he has that NHL contract, he's not assuming that he's going to be in the minors. He has his sights set higher.
"To be honest, I'm focusing on being in camp." he said. "It's a crazy, crazy sport. You never know what will happen in the first couple of weeks with injuries here or around the league. I'm focusing on being part of Pittsburgh right here. Where the chips lay, that's where you focus. Right now I'm focusing on being here and excelling with the Pittsburgh Penguins."
Tokarski did just that, at least in the first two days of camp. The first day's scrimmage was between Team 1 and 2 of this year's camp groups, with Tokarski and Lindberg each playing a half for Team 2 and DeSmith and Gauthier each playing a half for Team 1. It was a small sample size, but Tokarski was the standout among the goaltenders in that game, pitching a shutout in his half despite his opponent having players like Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Rickard Rakell on the roster. On the other side of the ice in the first half, DeSmith conceded goals to Drake Caggiula, Josh Archibald and Raivis Ansons.
Tokarski repeated that performance on Day 2, earning a shutout for Team 2 in the first half of the scrimmage, while Jarry allowed a goal to Radim Zohorna at the other end. Tokarski had a couple of big glove saves on Kris Letang and P.O Joseph, as well as a pad save on a Brock McGinn shot from two feet out in the final minute of the half.
Those performances give Tokarski a little boost of confidence to open camp, even if it is just a scrimmage.
"You want to perform well," he said. "At the same time, you want to get your game to a good level and ready for the regular season. Performing well in camp is great, but you also really want to find your game and peak your game in the season. It's fun to get out there and play with refs, do the real thing and play well."
It seems unlikely that Tokarski could come in and steal DeSmith's job right out of camp. I asked Mike Sullivan after practice if he could see Tokarski really, legitimately challenging for that spot, and he didn't exactly rule it out. The job is available to whoever earns it, as is every other spot on the roster.
"I'd like to think that in pro sports, there's always competition," Sullivan said. "It's just the nature of our business. It's what we do. It's the world we all live in. We always have competition in all the respective positions, and guys are going to push one another to be at their best. We're going to try to put the best guys on the ice that give us the best chance to win."
Tokarski's going to try to push for a spot on the NHL roster. But if he does end up in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins can likely feel secure in him as the No. 3 this year.
Oh, and if he does get the opportunity to come up to Pittsburgh and try to write his own Cinderella story, no spicy pork and broccoli for him if Chinese takeout is that night's menu.
"I get chicken balls with sweet and sour sauce."
