The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL have signed defenseman Mark Pysyk to a professional try-out. Pysyk is a 521-game veteran of the NHL, most recently playing for the Buffalo Sabres in the 2021-22 season.
Pysyk scored 12 points in the 68 games he was awarded in 2021-22, six points shy of his career-high in scoring. He set that career-high with the 2019-20 Florida Panthers, reaching 18 points in 58 games. It speaks to the modest career that Pysyk had, with much of his value being provided on the defensive side of the puck. How Pysyk will be utilized on his newly-signed PTO is up in the air but if he plays AHL games, it will be his first experience in the league since 2015-16. It will also be his first time playing with a minor league club other than the Rochester Americans, whom Pysyk totaled 145 games with throughout the early stages of his career.
Other notes from around the league:
- Buffalo’s Connor Clifton is set to return from the two-game suspension that he was levied for a high hit on Nico Hischier. Hischier remains out with an upper-body injury as a result of the hit, with it being announced yesterday that he is likely to miss at least four games.
- Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub will not suit up for the team’s Thursday night game against the Los Angeles Kings. Zub has been battling a head injury for much of the early season, with a concussion holding the defender out now. Ottawa is also facing injuries to Thomas Chabot and Erik Brännström. Rookie defender Nikolas Matinpalo is operating as the Senators’ seventh defenseman and will likely slot into Zub’s place.