Things are heating up. The Penguins have made multiple signings this week. Earlier, they extended coach Todd Reirdan. Today, they’ve extended Mike Vellucci
The Penguins have re-signed assistant coach Mike Vellucci to a two-year contract extension.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) August 22, 2022
Full details: https://t.co/BwpsLc9FeE pic.twitter.com/q4cUtOw9O4
Vellucci was previously the WB/S head coach and general manager before joining the big club as an assistant. Prior to that he won the Calder Cup as head coach of the Charlotte Checkers. I think there’s some value in some consistency with the coaching staff. I don’t think the Penguins system has been an issue or the overriding factor for the early round playoff losses. Scoring depth and goaltending shoulder the blame, there.
Vellucci wasn’t the only signing in the past few days. The Penguins have also signed another college free agent.
Jack St. Ivany #Penguins
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 21, 2022
2-year Entry Level
Breakdown:
22-23: 750k base + 95k SB
22-24: 775k base + 95k SBhttps://t.co/OtvE1XaZl5
The Penguins don’t have a good farm system. They haven’t drafted particularly well in recent years, a product of trading away many picks for immediate roster help. One way to try and mitigate those issues is to be active signing college free agents.
St. Ivany is a former Flyers fourth round draft pick from 2018. He has played four years of college hockey. The first two years were at Yale with the final two coming at Boston College. He is a right shot defenseman. His senior year he put up 24 points in 35 games. One of his coaches the past two years? Brooks Orpik who is currently an assistant coach for Boston College.
Corey Pronman had this to say about St. Ivany one year ago
Jack St. Ivany, RHD, Boston College-Hockey East: St. Ivany played big minutes for a top NCAA team this season. He’s a very smart, two-way defenseman with size, but his skating is a concern for the NHL level.
For now, this is a depth signing for the Baby Penguins.
Look at that, two things that happened in the month of August. We are spoiled.
Thanks for reading!