When last season ended, Keith Yandle’s ironman streak had come to an end and after being a healthy scratch down the stretch, it seemed like the 35-year-old was going to be calling it a career. However, his agent Jerry Buckley told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski that the veteran hasn’t decided whether or not he wants to play this season and that teams are in discussions with him about the defenseman.
Yandle is coming off a tough 2021-22 campaign. After Florida bought him out last July, he signed with Philadelphia where the expectation was that he’d help boost their production from the back end. Unfortunately for them, that didn’t happen. Instead, he managed just a single goal in 77 games along with 18 assists, his worst output since his rookie year back in 2007-08. While plus/minus doesn’t carry the value it once did, it’s worth noting that he was -47 which was the lowest in the NHL.
At first glance, Yandle would be a prime candidate for a PTO deal as many veterans will be settling for over the next couple of weeks to ensure they’ll be at a training camp. However, Buckley indicated that it’s unlikely that the blueliner would be willing to go that route and that not having a contract to start the season wouldn’t automatically mean that his career would be over. Instead, he would be looking for the right fit.
With over 1,100 career regular season games and 619 points under his belt, Yandle has had quite a successful career, especially considering he was a fourth-round pick back in 2005. We’ll see over the coming weeks if he’s able to find the right fit to play a 17th NHL season.
Nha Trang
He’s “unsure?” Good grief, he was terrible last season, and he LOOKED terrible, and if he hadn’t been chasing the record — and if the Flyers hadn’t been damn generous about letting him try — he would have been plying his trade in Allentown by December. The Flyers spared him that humiliation as well.
Of course he’s the best judge of his own pride, and it wasn’t very long ago that he was a sterling offensive performer. But given the cap crunch so very many teams are in, if Yandle isn’t willing to go PTO, then this is it.
User 318310488
Thank you Mr.Obvious.
doghockey
Wilf, we see your grasp of hockey on a regular basis. Nothing of any substance seems obvious to you.
User 318310488
Does Yandle realize at this juncture that’s It’s not up to him?
riverrat55
Possible Yandle & Subban PTO’s with Boston !
link to youtube.com