After being linked to him earlier this week, the Penguins have indeed added to their prospect pool, announcing the signing of defenseman Jack St. Ivany to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $950K in the NHL.
The 23-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers back in 2018 (112th overall) but didn’t sign with Philadelphia by Monday’s deadline, paving the way for him to become an unrestricted free agent. Pittsburgh GM Ron Hextall was in charge of the Flyers back in 2018 so he certainly had some familiarity with his newest prospect which undoubtedly played a role in their decision to pursue St. Ivany.
St. Ivany split his college career between two schools. He spent the first two years with Yale before transferring to Boston College during the pandemic where he struggled in his junior year. However, last season, he fared much better, recording four goals and 20 assists with the Eagles, setting new career-bests in both goals and points.
With Pittsburgh already having a fair bit of defensive depth, it’s safe to say that St. Ivany will be heading to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season where he’ll hope to work his way up their depth chart and perhaps into an injury recall situation at some point over the next two seasons.