Penguins give Tom Sestito a tryout contract

By James O'BrienAug 26, 2015, 9:41 AM EDT
12 Comments

The Pittsburgh Penguins handed out another professional tryout contract to another familiar face, giving Tom Sestito a shot as of Wednesday.

Pittsburgh gave the same thing to defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who obviously has a more storied history with the franchise than Sestito.

In each case, it won’t be easy for either player to make the team, especially if each veteran isn’t open-minded to playing in the AHL. That would likely be less of an issue with Sestito, 27, as he played 10 games with the Utica Comets in the AHL and three with the Vancouver Canucks in 2014-15.

Last season marked his third campaign with Vancouver. Sestito has also seen reps with the Columbus Blue Jackets (who drafted him 85th overall in 2006) and Philadelphia Flyers.

In 137 career NHL games, he has 18 points and 432 penalty minutes, so that should give you a good idea about his role.

Columbus inks Chaput to one-year, two-way contract

By James O'BrienJul 23, 2015, 4:37 PM EDT

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed forward Michael Chaput to a one-year, two-way contract on Thursday.

While the team didn’t share the financial details, the Columbus Dispatch reports that it’s worth $650K at the NHL level.

Chaput, 23, played a career-high 33 games in the NHL in 2014-15, generating five points. The flood of Blue Jackets injuries allowed him to generate an unexpected amount of experience at the NHL level.

On paper, he’d have a tough road to travel to play a comparable amount of games in 2015-16. That said, it could happen if the Blue Jackets’ bad injury luck last season was actually the beginning of a pattern.

Chaput was the 89th pick of the 2010 NHL Draft. The Philadelphia Flyers selected him then, but eventually traded him to Columbus for Tom Sestito.

PHT Morning Skate: Ducks’ Patrick Maroon the latest guest on ‘Between Two Zambonis’

By Dhiren MahibanMar 23, 2015, 8:00 AM EDT

PHT’s Morning Skate takes a look around the world of hockey to see what’s happening and what we’ll be talking about around the NHL world and beyond.

Anaheim Ducks forward Patrick Maroon recently joined teammate Ryan Kesler on the latest installment of ‘Between Two Zambonis’. The pair discussed Maroon’s celebrity look a likes and even took shots at captain Ryan Getzlaf’s hairline.

Editor’s Note: Play one-day fantasy hockey tonight! Pro Hockey Talk’s partner FanDuel is hosting a $25,000 league for Monday’s NHL games. It’s just $2 to join and first place wins $2,000. Starts Monday at 7:00pm ET. Enter Now!

“I wake up in the morning and wonder what I’m going to do besides work out” – Tom Sestito discusses the diminishing enforcer role in hockey. (The Globe and Mail)

Top prospect Dylan Strome had a six-point game Sunday to win the Ontario Hockey League’s scoring title. (Yahoo)

The Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets develop D-Men down to a science. (NHL.com)

Bridgeport Sound Tigers forward Kael Mouillierat used a lacrosse-style move to open the scoring against the Binghamton Senators on Sunday:

Sixteen seasons. 22 teams. Zero NHL games. But the passion never left Frank Littlejohn. (The Hockey News)

St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo discusses the 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon:

Canucks’ Kassian out a ‘few weeks’ with finger injury

By Jason BroughNov 27, 2014, 2:27 PM EDT
19 Comments

Canucks forward Zack Kassian will miss a “few weeks” with a “finger thing,” coach Willie Desjardins announced today.

Kassian, who has just two goals in 17 games, suffered the “thing” Tuesday versus New Jersey (he was slashed) and did not fly with his teammates to Columbus, where Vancouver will kick off a seven-game trip Friday.

Linden Vey, a healthy scratch against the Devils, is expected to replace Kassian, taking both his spot on the third line with Brad Richardson and Shawn Matthias as well as on the first power-play unit.

No word yet on a possible call-up. Currently, the only extra forward is the injured Tom Sestito, so don’t be surprised if Nicklas Jensen is soon summoned from AHL Utica.

Canucks recall Jensen from AHL

By Jason BroughNov 7, 2014, 3:25 PM EDT
21 Comments

Injuries to forwards Tom Sestito and Zack Kassian have led the Canucks to call up winger Nicklas Jensen from AHL Utica.

Jensen has four goals in his last seven games for the Comets, the 21-year-old earning praise from Utica GM Pat Conacher:

The Canucks (10-4-0) play Saturday in Los Angeles and Sunday in Anaheim. Whether Jensen gets into one of those games (and if he does, where he slots into the lineup) remains to be seen.

The 29th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Jensen made 17 appearances for the Canucks last season, scoring three times on 30 shots.