Top 3 intriguing forwards on PTO for 2021-22 training camps
PTO contracts are always, for me, one of the more enjoyable aspects of any NHL Training Camp. Otherwise known as a Professional Tryout Contract, PTO’s are used all over the pro hockey landscape, though, unlike the AHL or ECHL, NHL PTO’s are limited to only training camps.
Every once in a while, a PTO can lead to a subsequent one-year deal and even the occasional feel-good story here and there. Last season, current Montreal Canadiens forward Mike Hoffman signed a PTO with the St. Louis Blues, after having remained unsigned for most of the 2020 off-season. While the PTO was mainly to serve as a lead-in to his eventual one-year deal, other examples like Devin Setoguchi’s stint in L.A or David Booth’s in Detroit, show that PTO’s aren’t always throw away offers.
With training camps for the 2021-22 season set to get underway, teams have already been awash with their fair share of PTO players. So, with that being said, here’s a look at some of the PTO’s that have been signed around the NHL thus far.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Nikita Gusev to PTO
The arrival of Kirill Kaprizov with the Minnesota Wild has certainly spoiled NHL fans regarding the potential of KHL imported players. While Kaprizov has proved himself as a true game-breaking star at any level, he could of just as likely been another Vadim Shipachyov, Sergei Plotnikov, or in this case, Nikita Gusev. To say the Goose’s entire tenure in the NHL has been unsuccessful would be an unfair presumption, though the former SKA St. Petersburg star nonetheless found himself with little to no NHL interest this past off-season, all except for his current PTO, with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A former seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Gusev never signed with the team after being promised a role as little more than a depth AHL contributor. After establishing himself as a bonafide star with St. Petersburg alongside Shipachyov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, and Evgeni Dadonov, Gusev was acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights as a throw-in to a trade with the Lightning, eventually signing a one-year entry-level deal with the team. After being unable to find room for the Russian native contract-wise, Vegas dealt him to the New Jersey Devils, where he would ultimately make his NHL debut.
After posting an impressive 44 points over 66 games in his first season, however, it’s been all downhill from there, culminating in his current chance in Toronto after a failed 11-game experiment with the Florida Panthers. While his defensive game still leaves a lot to be desired, as does his skating, Gusev is still a highly-skilled offensive talent when given the right opportunities and is a player whom I feel we’ve only scratched the surface of. With limited opportunities and a lack of true game-breaking talent around him thus far, a shot in Toronto could be just what the doctor ordered for Gusev a la Alex Galchenyuk.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Alex Galchenyuk to PTO
Speak of the devil, Galchenyuk’s existential stint in the remnants of free agency has come to an underwhelming and temporary end, inking a PTO with the team he was once thought to be the future of in the Arizona Coyotes. A former third overall pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2012 NHL Draft, Galchenyuk quickly established himself as a reliable offensive contributor in Montreal over his six seasons with the team, reaching career highs of 30-26-56 totals in the 2015-16 season. After posting a dreadful -31 rating in the 2017-18 season, however, the Canadiens looked to make a change, trading Galchenyuk to Arizona in a one-for-one for similarly struggling first-rounder Max Domi.
While Domi would go on to flourish in Montreal, eventually netting the Canadiens Josh Anderson in another one-for-one trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Galchenyuk turned in more of the same in Arizona, which has since been the norm for this once-top prospect. After being the principal part of another blockbuster deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, with Arizona receiving former 90-point threat Phil Kessel, Galchenyuk quickly fell into head coach Mike Sullivan’s doghouse, somewhere he hasn’t been able to escape in subsequent NHL stops in Ottawa, Carolina, Minnesota, and Toronto.
While his redemption act with the Maple Leafs looked to be progressing nicely, a blind no-look pass to Cole Caufield in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Canadiens quickly laid that to rest. Now back in Arizona, Galchenyuk is seemingly on his last legs regarding his NHL chances, with an overseas departure seemingly in the cards, whether that be in the KHL or elsewhere. While he’s still shown flashes of his elite offensive ability, with a lethal release, soft hands, and solid passing abilities, Galchenyuk’s immaturity, lack of work ethic, and off-ice issues continue to plague him and could likely spell the end of his short-lived NHL career.
St. Louis Blues Sign James Neal to PTO
James Neal’s fall from grace from the once leader of the Vegas Golden Knights to a stain on the Edmonton Oilers salary cap is a fascinating one to say the least, but regardless, the Ontario native finds himself with likely his last NHL chance off a PTO with the St. Louis Blues. Neal’s career has been rather up and down to put it politely, but when he’s hot there are few better offensively in the NHL. A second-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2005, Neal has 10 20-goal seasons to his name and for a brief moment, was making sweet, sweet music with Evgeni Malkin in his all too brief stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After continuing to post solid numbers following a trade to the Nashville Predators, Neal found himself in Vegas after being claimed in the Expansion Draft, capping off a six-year, $30 million deal with a 25-goal season for Vegas in 2017-18. Come July 1st, Neal opted to head elsewhere, inking a five-year deal worth $28.75 million with the Calgary Flames. With a lack of fitness due to Vegas’s lengthy playoff run, however, Neal was nothing short of awful in his lone season in Calgary, spending extended stints in the press box as the Flames desperately looked for a way out.
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Eventually, they found one, sending Neal to the Oilers in exchange for another lengthy contract in Milan Lucic. Whilst Lucic has found a role as a bottom-six checker with the Flames, a hot start for Neal in Edmonton eventually gave way into a lengthy buyout that costs a less than ideal $1.9 million AAV for the next four seasons. While he was once a hard-hitting sniper with a penchant for big goals, Neal’s complete lack of foot speed nowadays has made him a liability on the ice more often than not. However, as mentioned, when he’s hot, there’s no one hotter, and I wouldn’t put anything past Neal managing one more kick at the can, whether that be in St. Louis or elsewhere.