It's that time of year again. NHL teams are running out of money and there's still several free agents or unrestricted free agents out there wanting to jump on with the team and they can only be one thing. Welcome to PTO tryout time. They seen the number of PTO signed this year including…
- Jack Johnson — Minnesota Wild
- Oliver Kylington — Carolina Hurricanes
- Milan Lucic — St. Louis Blues
- Conor Sheary — New York Rangers
- Brendan Smith — Columbus Blue Jackets
- Givani Smith — Carolina Hurricane
We've even seen two AHL PTOs signed this calendar year (2025)
- Sam Gagner — Belleville Senators (January)
- Jesse Puljujärvi — Charlotte Checkers (February)
There's a lot to know about a PTO. And I've been involved in some weird situations surrounding PTOs that I'll share here.. The most important thing to remember about a PTO is…a players trying out for the team he signed the PTO with, but more than that he's trying out for the NHL. General managers love to bring in guys were older to help with the competition in camp. A player who excepts a paid tryout, is generally apply with a lot of desire, and motivation, and that's a great player her to be in camp. Sometimes Young drafted players have to look at the PTOs and say “geez that guy doesn't have a job yet, he's got so much experience and I've gotta compete against him?
Certain Coaches really love PTOs… you can see on the list three the players are associated with Carolina. Sullivan Knows Sheary and bringing him into Rangers camp will definitely play some games with current Rangers..Jack Johnson in Minny has a definite USA hockey thing going on with Guerin…Brandon Smith is always considered a solid player/guy…
Of source the most newsworthy and surprising of all the PTO signings came a couple weeks ago and Milan Lucic signed in St. Louis. The last we saw Lucic, he was struggling to keep up with the speed of the game. I don't think for a second that he's NOT going to be on fire in camp here. He's always been a leader he always has plenty of character and there's no question in St. Louis can use that…. At least in camp.
Because as I noted earlier, you are trying out for the NHL not just your team they're playing with. I saw this firsthand when the flyer signed Brian Berard do a PTO several years ago, and in the middle of a game after the second period, he was pulled off the bench as another team had called and had interest in signing him. At that point, flyers had to decide what they wanted to do with him. They were not ready to personally sign them to a contract, so they allowed him to go….and he was very thankful as he left the building…
So who are still out there?
(As of this writing)
Jack Roslovic (C)
22 Goals last season. Toronto, Calgary and Detroit with interest
Matt Grzelcyk (LD)
40 Points last season. Colorado and Vancouver with interest.
Max Pacioretty (LW, 36)
He was VERY valuable in the playoffs for the Leafs…but not much in the season…
James Reimer and Ilya Samsonov
Veteran goalies, it's kind of shocking though that Samsung is was only 28 years old.
And of course Evgeny Kuznetsov…
Talented risk, but I've heard interest from Utah, Tampa, and NYI.
Tomorrow I will keep your eyes on these guys and lots to look at some of the best PTO signings in NHL History.
What’s the Buzz?
What PTO players are you watching?