Injury ruins veteran player’s chance to return to NHL on PTO

Defenseman Mark Pysyk was attempting to crack the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster when he signed a professional tryout agreement with the team ahead of training camp. Unfortunately for the veteran blue liner, he sustained an injury that is said to keep him out long term. He was therefore added to the injured list as part of 11 transactions to reduce their training camp roster on Monday.

This is what head coach Mike Sullivan could say about Pysyk’s injury and bad luck.

"We were really looking forward to watching Mark throughout the exhibition season, getting him into some games, and seeing where he might potentially fit on our team.”

That’s a tough blow for Pysyk, who missed last season with an Achilles injury suffered just one week after signing a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. When he was ready to lace them up again in January, he suffered a setback that cost him the remainder of the season.

At the Penguins’ training camp, Pysyk was competing for the third-pairing right side and was leading the pack to win the position over Chad Ruhwedel and Ty Smith.

Before his PTO with Pittsburgh, Pysyk played 521 NHL games over 10 seasons split between the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, and Dallas Stars.

Now Pysyk is back dealing with an injury, uncertain if he’ll get to play during the 2023-24 season…

Poor guy.

Recommended articles:

• Josh Bailey signs PTO with a Canadian team
• Nick Ritchie signs PTO deal with new team
• 11 PTOs added to one team on Wednesday!
• Former Team Canada captain Max Comtois signs PTO contract
• Former Red Wings forward Adam Erne signs a PTO contract with new team