The Penguins made headlines yesterday when they swapped forward prospect Brayden Yager for Rutger McGroarty, but that wasn’t the only personnel move the team made.
Earlier in the day, the team had announced that they signed defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov to a professional try out.
Knyzhov is the first player that the Penguins have signed to a PTO this offseason. He is a 6′ 3, 225 pound left-shot defenseman.
He had one year left on a contract with the Sharks that counted for $1.25 million, but the two sides agreed on a mutual termination of that deal, making him a free agent. The undrafted defender had spent his entire North American career with the Sharks organization.
But, as he hopes to embark on his next chapter, he will be seeing a few familiar faces. David Quinn, who took a job as an assistant coach on the Penguins’ bench this summer, was the head coach in San Jose during the last two years, where Knyzhov had two brief stints in the NHL.
Knyzhov appeared in 22 games for the Sharks over the last two years (10 in 2022-23, 12 in 2023-24). During those two years, the 26-year old registered a goal and an assist, with a -13 rating on some really bad Sharks teams.
The bulk of Knyzhov’s NHL experience came during the 2020-21 season, where he was a full time NHLer, playing in all 56 games of the Covid-shortened season and putting up 10 points with a -9 rating and 39 penalty minutes.
Karlsson was a teammate of Knyzhov during that season, and during the 2022-23 campaign.
Last season, Knyzhov spent most of the year in the American Hockey League with the San Jose Barracuda. The Kemerovo native got into 40 games for the Barracuda and put up 14 points, 24 penalty minutes, and a +8 rating.
Knyzhov joins a crowded list of potential depth defenders that the Penguins will need to clear out before the season starts.
Though he has a leg up on someone like Nathan Clurman or Mac Hollowell, who have no prior NHL experience, he will have to contend with John Ludvig, Jack St. Ivany, Ryan Shea, and Sebastian Aho, all players that appeared in more games than Knyzhov at the NHL level last year.
That’s five experienced defensemen all competing for one spot on the blue line, possibly two if the Penguins kept one of them as a seventh defensemen on the roster.
Still, it’s an uphill battle for someone like Knyzhov, who is the only member of that group to enter training camp without a contract.
PTOs are always entirely risk-free for the clubs that sign them; if the player fails to stand out, they can be released without any strings attached. However, for the player, it’s typically a last resort. Most fringe NHLers who do not get a contract out of a PTO end up playing somewhere in Europe.
It’s up to Knyzhov to stand out among the crowd. If he succeeds, then the Penguins found a diamond in the rough, and can extend him a deal that, in all likelihood, would be a league minimum deal. If he doesn’t, it could spell the end of his North American career.
The camp battles this season will be really interesting to watch. The team has acquired a ton of depth/replacement level players in both the forward and defensive categories, but the backend will be of particular interest as the hockey season heats up in Pittsburgh.
(Featured photo by Kelley L Cox/USA Today Sports)
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