Several NHL veterans are vying for roster spots on professional tryout agreements these next few weeks. For a select few, their career path in the NHL will continue while most will begin to move into other leagues to continue to get a pay cheque like in the AHL or even possibly the ECHL. For others they may look oversees inn Europe and such. These agreements (PTO) often don’t bear any fruit, but teams occasionally strike gold and end up landing a contributor. For those already signed to PTO’s (Professional Try Out) with a NHL team their eyes are are set and they’re ready to earn jobs in training camps across the leagues in the next weeks.
For some of these unsigned players this is their one last chance to try and crack a roster for the 2023-24 season. How does a PTO work in hockey? A PTO allows a hockey player to join a professional team’s training camp or preseason without a formal contract. It gives the player a chance to impress the team’s coaching staff and management in hopes of securing a full-time contract for the regular season. In some cases another NHL may see them through scouting another team and sign that said player even though they are on a ‘said’ team as a PTO.
There are only a handful of days remaining before training camps start for the Main group (Non Rookie), but many players will still be searching for a job. Unable to secure a guaranteed contract, there are few options these players can utilize to acquire NHL work. Signing PTOs can be beneficial to both player and team. The player gets to showcase their potential fit , while at the same time it gives an NHL team an extra competitive body for training camp or early pre-season at the very least.
So what are the chances a player who gets a PTO will sign an NHL contract? So far just over 30 plus PTO’s actually were signed since 2015 out of 340 plus PTO’s. It works out to about 15% actually sign a contract. Interesting how of that 15% who do sign only 55% sign with the NHL team they are on a PTO wth. the other 45% end up being picked up by another NHL team who was impressed with their body of work in training camp or early pre-season and sign them on. Some teams run into early training camp and or pre-season injuries and are looking for PTO’s to fill their roster which is why they all scout each other.
This year has a very high number of PTO’s (while not the highest number, it’s close) Here is an early list but my disclaimer is, this can change by the hour. Perhaps you also were wondering about a player if they were under a NHL contract? They just well may be listed below on a PTO (September 17th/23 5:30pm)
- Devils: Willman, Max /
- Hurricanes: Aston-Reese, Zach / Beaulieu, Nathan / Bellows, Kieffer / Halbgewachs, Jayden / Shore, Nick
- Detroit: Hillis, Cameron /
- Ducks: Harrington, Scott / Kassian, Zack /
- Oilers: Erne, Adam / Gagner, Sam / Sutter, Brandon
- Penguins: Hájek, Libor / Pysyk, Mark / Wagner, Austin / White, Colin /
- Senators: Bailey, Josh /
- Lightning: Watson, Austin, /
- Stars: Benn, Jordie / , Brandon
- Kings: Bérubé, Jean-François /
- Bruins: Chiasson, Alex / Heinen, Danton
- Golden Knights: Comtois, Maxime /
- Blue Jackets: Dell, Aaron / Matteau, Stefan / Meloche, Nicolas /
- Coyotoes: Peter DiLiberatore (D) / Olli Juolevi (D) / Austin Strand (D) / Hunter Drew (F) / Ryan Dzingel (F) / Patrick Harper (F) / Cameron Hebig (F) / Micah Miller (F) / Austin Poganski (F) / Colin Theisen (F) / Reece Vitelli (F)
- Maple Leafs: Gregor, Noah/
- Predators: Wells, Dylan /
- Avalanche: Holland, Peter / Kiviranta, Joel / Maenalanen, Saku /
- Blues: Ritchie, Nick
You may notice not every team has a PTO player on their opening roster. Now because the chance of one of these guys getting a PTO and doing well, I want to take you down HL history highway to look at a few PTO’s that were probably the best signings coming out of a PTO. Most are in the modern era of hockey but for fun I stepped back in time and the last player mentioned, it’s important to note he was a future hall of fame and he even signed a PTO as an older player. Nothing is a guarantee and you have to work hard or you just might be out of the league faster then you can write your initials on a contract coming into the league.
Here is a list of probably the most successful PTO signings in NHL history:
Mason Raymond (Tor)
Lee Stempniak (NJ)
Kris Versteeg (Calgary)
Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta
Brad Boyes (Florida)
Thomas Fleischman (Montreal)
Scotty Upshaw (St.Louis)
Alex Chaisson (Washington/Edmonton)
Mike Hoffman (St Louis)
Guy Lafleur (New York Rangers)
Only time will tell in the next weeks who will make it and then the 2023/2024 NHL season will tell us if there is another player who could be added to this list as the next best successful signing in NHL PTO history. Any wild card player you see possibly being successful mentioned above? Let us know. Mine 2 potential success stories could be Maxime Comtois and/or Josh Baily. IN the meantime, let’s play some hockey!
Keep on Keeping on!
Evan ‘REV’ Renaerts
For more hockey news around the hockey world or different takes or maybe you want to follow Prospects in Jr hockey give a follow @revingev on X (formerly known as Twitter)
