It looks like enforcer Tom Sestito will be getting another chance to work his way back to the NHL as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Toronto Marlies have signed the 6-foot-5, 228-pound forward to a professional tryout. A veteran of 154 NHL games, the 31-year-old had been playing in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the previous two years, but he wasn’t able to get a contract this year.
Friedman says that his source said he was thrilled that Sestito was getting one last shot to work his way back and referred to him as a great teammate. Sestito’s best season came in the 2013-14 season with the Vancouver Canucks when he played 77 games and scored five goals and nine points and accumulated 213 penalty minutes. He was probably best known for hits that netted him a pair of four-game suspensions, including one against New York Rangers’ Andre Deveaux from behind in 2011 and another one in 2017 when he boarded Winnipeg’s Toby Enstrom. His last NHL team was the Pittsburgh Penguins where he played 17 games in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons combined.
- St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said that forward Robert Thomas will not be loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Championships, according to Fox Sports’ Andy Strickland. The 19-year-old has just two goals and seven points so far in his rookie campaign in St. Louis while averaging just over 12 minutes of ice time per game, so many have speculated the Blues could loan him out temporarily to get him extra playing time at the World Juniors. However, Thomas has seen a small spike in his playing time since head coach Mike Yeo was fired and replaced by Craig Berube as the team hopes that the 2017 first-rounder continues his development while learning on the bottom lines.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins got some good news on the injury that defenseman Kris Letang suffered Friday in the third period against the Boston Bruins when the blueliner collided with Boston’s Joakim Nordstrom and had his knee buckle. Fans began to get concerned when he wasn’t able to stand on his own. However, while he did miss tonight’s game, the Penguins announced that he’s day-to-day, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It could’ve been a lot worse,” coach Mike Sullivan said. The 31-year-old has been having a solid season this year with seven goals and 25 points in 30 games this season.
- NHL.com’s Kevin Falness reports that Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said that he expects center Mikko Koivu to return to the Wild’s lineup on Tuesday when they face San Jose. The 35-year-old has missed four games with a left leg injury, but a return could be a big addition as Koivu has put up solid numbers this year as he has four goals and 21 points in 27 games.
It’s unbelievable to me that a guy like Sestito, who, reputation aside, has produced such little value at the professional level, will be given another shot over anybody else. I wish hockey could move past employing goons who would be more at home in a boxing ring than a rink.
big z?
Are you implying that Chara is in any way comparable to Sestito?
Crack?
Goons keep soft players like Letang safe. Without goons the cheap shots have got alot worse in the past few years.
I agree with you, and I want cheap shots to be held to a minimum as much as anybody else does, but there needs to be a balance. Skill and toughness are not mutually exclusive. There are many physically intimidating players that don’t need to rely on that quality alone as their sole source of value to a team.
Sestito has no skill. He’s just a goon and should go back to painting houses in Syracuse
Lucky for Letang and the pissburgh blowbirds, Boston isn’t a dirty organization like the black and yellow posers of PA always have been. Cooke and a Crosby slash leading to 9 fingers on Methot, anyone? lmao. If they were, Letang would have been out for the rest of the season as usual.