As training camp draws near, teams are beginning to ink veteran players to tryout deals. Here’s who to look for in training camps and on pre-season rosters.
Andrew MacDonald|Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
As we inch closer to September and the beginning of NHL training camps, so begins the slow trickle of professional tryout contracts for veteran players looking to continue their careers by making a mark in training camp.
Last season, there were several players who entered camps on PTOs and managed to turn them into contracts. Included among those were a few defensemen – Brandon Davidson earned a spot with the Chicago Blackhawks, while Luca Sbisa and Dennis Seidenberg both inked deals with the New York Islanders – as well as forwards Drew Stafford and Alex Chiasson, the latter turning into one of the season’s biggest success stories. Brought in to battle for a roster spot, Chiasson was inked shortly before the regular season began and proceeded to register a career-best 22 goals and 38 points, all the while skating regular top-six minutes. He has since turned that one-year pact into a two-year, $4.3-million deal, making his PTO among the most successful in the post-lockout NHL.
Will there be another Chiasson-esque PTO this season? Only time will tell, with plenty hinging on fit and opportunity. But with camps on the horizon, here’s a team-by-team breakdown of familiar faces who will be arriving on PTOs:
BOSTON BRUINS
Alex Petrovic, D: From top-four rearguard with the Florida Panthers – and expansion-protection worthy blueliner, according to the club – to bottom-pairing defenseman, trade fodder and now a 27-year-old seeking an NHL gig via tryout. Petrovic has some sandpaper to his game and he could be a seventh or eighth option in Boston, but the blueline is getting crowded, so he’ll have to wow the staff.
CALGARY FLAMES
Andrew MacDonald, D: The long-rumored buyout finally came with one year left on his five-year, $30-million pact, but MacDonald has intriguing potential as a bottom-six defender. He can move the puck well and can still rip it from the point, but he hasn’t been an every-game, top-four rearguard since he first arrived with the Philadelphia Flyers five seasons ago. The 32-year-old is a possible depth addition.
DALLAS STARS
Scottie Upshall, LW: He took the entire 2018-19 campaign off, but Upshall, 35, is back and looking for another go-round as a fourth-liner in the NHL. There are few players in the NHL, part or present, as familiar with getting work through PTOs as Upshall. He earned his spot with the St. Louis Blues by way of a PTO in 2015-16, and he left a PTO with the Vancouver Canucks to sign with the Blues again in 2017-18.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Chris Stewart, RW: Stewart, 31, had a whirlwind 2018-19. He had signed with the KHL’s Slovan Bratislava, but didn’t report to the club and announced his retirement shortly thereafter. By January, however, Stewart signed in the UK’s EIHL and finished out the campaign with the Nottingham Panthers. He’s fourth-line fodder, but he did score 23 goals and 37 points in 133 games across the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Michal Neuvirth, G: Part of the Flyers’ goaltending carousel last season, the 31-year-old posted atrocious numbers – an .859 save percentage and 4.27 goals-against average – in his seven appearances. With Michael Hutchinson as the only experienced backup in the organization, though, Neuvirth seemingly has the inside track on the second-stringer gig. He’ll almost certainly have to accept league minimum, though.
Matt Read, RW: Once a near finalist for the Calder Trophy – he finished fourth in voting in 2011-12, the same season Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins battled it out for the award – Read’s past two campaigns have been trying. He spent the bulk of both seasons in the AHL, where he played well. Last season, he notched 16 goals and 37 points for the Iowa Wild, farm club of the Minnesota Wild. He’s more likely to land with the Toronto Marlies than the Maple Leafs.
Want more in-depth features, analysis and an All-Access pass to the latest content? Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.
