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Tom Pyatt

Tom Pyatt Signs In SHL

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The San Jose Sharks decided not to re-sign Tom Pyatt after acquiring his rights last month and the veteran forward is now going to take his talents overseas. Pyatt has signed a one-year contract with Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Hockey League.

Pyatt, 32, was only included in the trade of Francis Perron because the Canucks needed to clear a contract slot, and was never expected to be retained by the Sharks. After playing 37 games with the Ottawa Senators last season he ended up in the minor leagues with the Utica Comets following a trade to Vancouver, and obviously didn’t make enough of an impact there either. Pyatt has actually been a full-time member of the Senators for the last three seasons after a two-year stint in Switzerland rebuilt his value.

Originally a fourth-round pick by the New York Rangers in 2005, the two-way forward played 485 total games in the NHL and recorded 107 points. His history overseas is much more productive however, something he’ll try to emulate again in the highest Swedish league. A two-time gold medalist at the World Juniors, Pyatt has carved out a nice professional career for himself despite never being much of an offensive threat at the NHL level. He’ll potentially be an option for another two-way deal in the summer of 2020.

Vancouver Canucks Acquire Francis Perron From San Jose Sharks

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5:27: The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that the Sharks have no interest in Pyatt as the only reason Pyatt was included in the deal was because Vancouver already had the maximum number of 50 contracts and needed to send a player back to the Sharks.

4:30: The Vancouver Canucks announced they have acquired prospect Francis Perron and a 2019 seventh-round pick from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the rights to unrestricted free agent Tom Pyatt and a 2019 sixth-round pick.

Perron, acquired last offseason along with Erik Karlsson from Ottawa, had a breakout year with the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL, posting 18 goals and 47 points in 63 games after putting up just 10 combined goals over the two previous years, but with a tremendous amount of young talent coming into the AHL this season in Ivan Chekhovich, Sasha Chmelevski, Noah Gregor and Joakim Blichfield, Perron was expendable. The 23-year-old has a better chance to cracking Vancouver’s lineup in training camp than he would have in San Jose.

The 32-year-old Pyatt is expected to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. No word on whether San Jose wants to sign the veteran forward. He played 37 games with the Ottawa Senators last season, tallying no goals and two assists, but then was traded along with goaltender Mike McKenna to Vancouver in the Anders Nilsson trade in January. He was immediately sent to the Utica Comets after the trade and played 36 games there, scoring six goals and 19 points there. Whether San Jose might want him as a cheap bottom-line option with the Sharks or potentially as a veteran leader for their top prospects is still up in the air.

Vancouver Trades Anders Nilsson, Darren Archibald To Ottawa

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The Vancouver Canucks have moved one of their NHL goaltenders, trading Anders Nilsson and Darren Archibald to the Ottawa Senators. Coming back to the Canucks will be long-time minor league goaltender Mike McKenna, recently waived forward Tom Pyatt and a 2019 sixth-round pick. The two teams are set to face each other tonight in Ottawa.

The Canucks have long sought a way to provide an opportunity at the NHL level for top prospect Thatcher Demko, and moving Nilsson out of town will now do just that. The 28-year old Nilsson will join the sixth NHL organization of his career, and very well could find himself somewhere else when his current contract expires at the end of this season. Carrying a $2.5MM cap hit this season, his performance didn’t justify an extension with the Canucks given Demko’s presence.

In Ottawa, Nilsson will try to provide some NHL-caliber netminding to an organization that hasn’t gotten much of it lately. With Craig Anderson still out dealing with a concussion the team had turned to McKenna and Marcus Hogberg in net, a tandem that had a total of 24 NHL appearances prior to this season. The two have gone 1-6-1 with the Senators this year. Those performances, along with the disappearance of anything resembling NHL contributions from Mike Condon, actually make Nilsson a savvy move for the Senators who are hoping to capture some lightning in a bottle down the stretch. The team is obviously in a rebuild, but could potentially bring back Nilsson as another stop-gap option while Filip Gustavsson continues to develop.

Archibald too could be of use to the Senators, given his history of offensive production at the AHL level. Even if he doesn’t contribute to the Ottawa roster this year, he’ll be a solid addition for a Belleville AHL team that is still trying to compete for a playoff spot in the North Division. Archibald is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and will go directly to the AHL for the Senators organization.

Pyatt, whose $1.1MM cap hit cannot actually be entirely buried in the minor leagues, will also report directly to the AHL after clearing waivers today. He can now be moved up and down for the Canucks for the next little while, giving them some added flexibility and experience up front. Still, he won’t provide value for very long as he is scheduled to be a UFA at the end of the year.

McKenna’s role in this trade is to give the Utica Comets a starter should Demko be recalled, given the long-term injury to Richard Bachman. The Comets are not nearly as impressive as a year ago, but could still make the AHL playoffs and need an experienced netminder like McKenna—Utica would be his 15th AHL city—to get there. The veteran goaltender would need waivers to go to the AHL, something that you will likely see if the team decides to give Demko an NHL shot.

Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Blues Put Three On Waivers

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Wednesday: All three players have cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Tuesday: The Ottawa Senators have decided that two assists in 37 games from Tom Pyatt just isn’t enough as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Senators have placed the veteran forward on waivers today. A moment later, Friedman added that the St. Louis Blues put a pair of players on waivers as well, including defenseman Chris Butler and forward Jordan Nolan. Friedman also writes that Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jason Garrison cleared waivers.

After losing five games in a row, the move to put Pyatt on waivers comes as no surprise as general manager Pierre Dorion is obviously sending a message to head coach Guy Boucher that the team needs to turn its fortunes around as the new year comes about. Pyatt, a favorite of Boucher, has struggled offensively as he has no goals and just two assists in 37 games as a bottom-line forward, but even more disappointing is his minus-16 rating on the ice. The 31-year-old has already seen his playing time drop to under 10 minutes in the nine of the past 10 games. The move could have been made as Jean-Gabriel Pageau is expected to return to the ice soon, possibly as early as Wednesday. Pyatt is in the final year of a two-year, $2.2MM contract and could generate some interest from a team looking for some veteran depth options.

Both Butler and Nolan have already been on waivers earlier this season as both cleared to start the season. Butler, however, has already seen 12 games and with the imminent return of defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, who has missed quite a bit of time with an upper-body injury, the team was required to place the 32-year-old on waivers. As for Nolan, he has also appeared in 11 games this year and has two assists to go with 14 penalty minutes. The 29-year-old Nolan, who has played parts of eight seasons in the NHL, will likely return to San Antonio where he has seven goals and 15 points there.

Ottawa Senators Recall Paul Carey

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The Ottawa Senators are bringing in some early season reinforcements, recalling veteran Paul Carey from the AHL’s Belleville Senators. The gritty, versatile forward is likely to compete for a job on the Senators fourth line. Carey, 30, recorded career highs across the board in 2017-18 with the New York Rangers and was Ottawa’s most notable free agent addition this off-season.

Despite skating in 60 games with the New York Rangers last season and posting seven goals and seven assists, as well as finishing among the Rangers’ forward leaders in hits, Carey has not seen the expected bump in attention paid his way this off-season. Carey was without any one-way offers on July 1st, signing a two-way contract with Ottawa in order to join a scenario where he felt he could find significant play time. He was then a relatively early cut from training camp, placed on waivers back on September 24th. Although Carey is almost exclusively an off-the-puck style player who was exposed at times last year and certainly benefited from an inflated shooting percentage, he is nevertheless an experienced, hard-nosed forward who can line up at all three positions and contribute to both special teams units. Even after a strong campaign in New York, Carey is still on the hunt for respect this season with Ottawa.

If he can find his niche with the Senators, he does have a chance to play an important role. Ottawa’s current fourth line of Tom Pyatt between Max McCormick and Magnus Paajarvi won’t strike fear into many opponents and Carey would seem to be an upgrade over either wing. Carey also could work his way into a regular short-handed role. With McCormick presently listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury, Carey likely will get his first chance to show that he can be a permanent fixture on the checking line when the Sens square off with the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night.

2017 NHL Free Agency Tracker

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Stay with PHR for all of the free agency signings this off-season. As of noon ET on July 1st, unrestricted free agency is open, but not before many extensions earlier in June. This page serves to organize everything in one spot, and are linked to the PHR story that corresponds with the signing. All July signings will be separated by date while June signings are organized alphabetically by team. It will be updated as soon as stories post.

Please note that signings on this list start on June 12.

July 1st:

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Tom Pyatt Signs Two-Year Deal With Ottawa Senators

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The Ottawa Senators have joined in on the signing fun, inking Tom Pyatt to a two-year deal worth $2.2MM. Pyatt was set to become an unrestricted free agent but apparently thought enough of the Senators to not push his luck on the open market. His $1.1MM salary is a $300K raise over last season, and the deal is no longer two-way.

Pyatt played in all 82 games for the Senators this season, finding a home after two years spent playing in the Swiss professional league. Registering 23 points while contributing mostly in a defensive role, Pyatt is a veteran of Guy Boucher’s system going back to their days together in Tampa Bay. The 30-year old forward will return for a reasonable salary, which will help the Senators as they continue to operate under an internal cap.

The Senators have several other UFAs to make decisions on, including Tommy Wingels and Viktor Stalberg. Chris Neil, long-time pest will not be retained by the club. With just around $13MM under the league cap, it’s unclear exactly how much more money the Senators have to spend. With restricted free agents like Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau needing qualifying offers by tonight, they’ll have to spend their remaining funds carefully this summer.

Snapshots: Wild, Senators UFA Talks, Islanders Dangling Picks

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While Minnesota has been heavily discussed in trade speculation dating back to the pre-expansion roster freeze, GM Chuck Fletcher told TSN’s Pierre LeBrun (Twitter link) that there is nothing imminent on the trade front.

Even with the Expansion Draft having passed, there have been plenty of suggestions that the Wild would still look to move one of their blueliners and that while Jonas Brodin is the most sought after, the one that would be more likely to go is Marco Scandella.  Friday, Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune suggested via Twitter that the asking price for Scandella was a package that included a first round pick.

Fletcher also noted to LeBrun that he doesn’t foresee there being any cap issues with the roster they currently have.  That alone is intriguing as the team already has $61.5MM committed for next season to 15 players per CapFriendly with Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter both in line to land big deals this summer.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Senators GM Pierre Dorion plans to speak to the agents for pending unrestricted free agents Mike Condon, Tommy Wingels, Tom Pyatt, and Viktor Stalberg this weekend to see if they can reach a deal before the negotiation window opens up, notes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The scribe adds that progress had been made with several of the UFAs before talks were put on the backburner for the Expansion Draft. Dorion indicated to Garrioch that the team is comfortable with Andrew Hammond as their backup goaltender next season if they’re unable to come to terms with Condon on a new deal.  On top of dealing with those free agents, Dorion is hopeful to get talks started with pending RFA Jean-Gabriel Pageau soon.
  • After adding several high draft picks in the trade of Travis Hamonic to Calgary, Islanders GM Garth Snow acknowledged to reporters, including Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski, that he is “100 percent” looking to move those picks for another established talent though he noted that he doesn’t expect anything to happen in the next coming days. Captain John Tavares is entering the final year of his contract in 2017-18 and is believed to be waiting to see what the team looks like for next season before deciding on whether or not to sign an extension.  Snow has already added some scoring help on the wing with the acquisition of Jordan Eberle earlier this week and another big addition up front would give the Isles a much stronger attack.

Snapshots: Bieksa, Stamkos, Pyatt

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Anaheim defenseman Kevin Bieksa is not expected to take the ice in Game 2 against Edmonton. Bieksa had not been logging major minutes lately, averaging just over 16 minutes on the backend, good for 6th best on his squad. However, his nasty, physical edge was felt everytime he took the ice. The defenseman had an awkward looking collision early in Wednesday’s game with teammate Shea Theodore. He left the game, briefly returned, and exited again for good. Further information is unknown at this time.

Bieksa is perhaps best remembered for being a pivotal part of the defense that led the Vancouver Canucks to Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final in 2010-11. He has played 82 career NHL playoff games, with a solid 30 points over that span. He had already potted 4 assists for the Ducks through 5 games. Replacing such a force will be difficult for Anaheim, especially since they struggled to deter the high-flying Edmonton forwards from creating offense and crashing the net. Sami Vatanen would be a safe bet to re-enter the lineup in his place, in an attempt to recoup some of that experience.

  • Steven Stamkos should be ready to go at the beginning of next season for the Tampa Bay Lightning.  He had undergone intensive surgery on his knee, after tearing his meniscus. Although his return was expected, the reassuring news should bring a sigh of relief for Bolts’ fans. Stamkos’ absence was sorely felt this season as his squad was kept afloat largely due to the individual efforts of Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman. Scoring depth was harder to come by and the team was noticeably less effective at line-matching. Stamkos is the sort of offensive superstar that is nearly impossible to replace, even with a roster that had been as well constructed as GM Steve Yzerman’s. Stamkos has won two Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies for top goal scorer in a season, including an absurd 60  goals in 2011-12. He had posted 9 goals and 20 points through 17 games this season before succumbing to injury.
  • Tom Pyatt did not play in Game 1 between the Senators and Rangers. The Ottawa forward was hopeful to be slotted in the lineup tonight, but was a late scratch. Pyatt had also missed the deciding Game 6 against Boston in the first round. The undersized fourth-liner had been held pointless through 4 games, and posted a -2. Although his veteran status and feistiness would have been welcome attributes in what is sure to be a tough series, his contributions this season were minimal. His advanced stats show that he is a net negative in terms of scoring opportunities and shots (CF% of 43.6), and his versatility isn’t even much of a bonus, as he only took 49 draws this season, losing the bulk of them.

Senators Open Extension Talks With Tom Pyatt

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Tom Pyatt’s tenure with the Senators may last beyond this season. General manager Pierre Dorion said today that the front office has explored an extension with the center (via TSN’s Bruce Garrioch on Twitter). Dorion also confirmed that the team had approached goalie Mike Condon regarding a potential extension, which was reported last week.

Pyatt returned to the NHL this season after having spent the previous two years playing for Geneve Servette in Switzerland. The soon-to-be 30-year-old ultimately inked a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa this past offseason, reuniting him with former coach Guy Boucher. The deal was reportedly worth $800K in the NHL and $200K in the AHL.

The veteran has had a solid campaign during his first season back in the states. In 53 games, Pyatt has scored six goals and collected 11 assists, putting him on pace to break his career-high 19 points. Over the past two seasons in Switzerland, Pyatt compiled 22 goals and 40 assists in 92 games. The center has 298 career regular-season NHL games under his belt and another 26 games of playoff experience.

Condon, who was acquired by the Senators at the beginning of the season, is in the final season of a two-year contract that will see him being paid the league minimum. The goalie has had a solid season, going 16-9-5 with a .912 save percentage and four shutouts.

Dorion noted that if the front office can’t come to an agreement on extensions with Pyatt or Condon, the team still wouldn’t look to trade the impending free agents (via Garrioch on Twitter).

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