Pierre Dorion sign two players to PTO contracts including a former fan favorite and a former 5th overall pick

The Ottawa Senators have signed journeyman NHL forward Derick Brassard and former New York Islanders 5th overall pick Michael Dal Colle to professional tryout (PTO) contracts.

Check it out:

The 34 year old Brassard is of course a former Senator, having been acquired by the team for a young Mika Zibanejad back in 2016. While Zibanejad has had the better career since the deal, Brassard really became a fan favorite during his two seasons in Ottawa. He played 46 games last season split between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Edmonton Oilers, putting up eight goals and 19 points. He's a versatile depth forward at this point of his career and he should help push some of the Senators' younger players in training camp next week.

As for Dal Colle, he's a former 5th overall pick from the 2014 NHL Entry Draft who has failed to establish himself as an every day NHLer, despite being given plenty of opportunities. The 26 year old winger has put up just eight goals and 21 points in 112 career games, all with the Islanders. His AHL totals frankly aren't even much better. He put up just nine goals and 22 points with the Islanders' AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season. Unless he absolutely sets the world on fire in training camp, I don't see him nailing down a full-time roster spot with the Senators or any other NHL team for that matter. I think he's likely destined for a career in the AHL at this point of his development.

As for the rest of the Sens' training camp lineup, well... it's impressive. For the first time in a long time there's a real optimism surrounding the team heading into the season. Not only do they have young studs like Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Tim Stutzle up front, but they've also got a legitimate #1 defenseman in Thomas Chabot and they appear to have shored up the goaltending position with Cam Talbot between the pipes. Add in other offseason additions like Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux and it's hard not to feel like the Sens are poised to take a big step forward.