White skated with Florida last season while Pysyk played with the Cats from 2016 to 2020
White skated with Florida last season while Pysyk played with the Cats from 2016 to 2020
With NHL training camps drawing closer by the day, teams across the league are shoring up their rosters as best they can.
On Saturday we learned that former Panthers forward Colin White signed a professional tryout offer with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He becomes the fourth player signed to a PTO by new Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas.
The other three are Libor Hajek, Austin Wagner and former Panthers hybrid Mark Pysyk.
Pysyk, who played four seasons in South Florida, is remembered fondly in Panthers lore for his brief but memorable run as the team’s ‘Prius’ (a nickname given to him by Keith Yandle).
The hybrid-esque moniker was due to Pysyk being asked to move from his traditional position as a defenseman and play the wing, He then he went out and produced, highlighted by a hat trick during a road win in Toronto and another three-point outing five games later.
They remain the only three-point games he’s logged during his NHL career.
White played 68 games with the Panthers last season after signing a one-year prove-it deal during the summer.
The 26-year-old finished the year with eight goals and 15 points while averaging 9:38 TOI.
He added a pair of assists while playing in 21 playoff games for Florida during their run to last year’s Stanley Cup Final.
Both White and Pysyk are former first-round draft picks; White went 21st overall to Ottawa in 2015 while Pysyk was taken by Buffalo in 2010 with the 23rd selection.
As for the Panthers, the team has not signed any players to a training camp PTO as of Sunday.
That doesn’t mean Florida General Manager Bill Zito won’t bring in a veteran or two before the Cats hit the ice for training camp in a couple weeks.
Eric Staal played with the Panthers last season and remains unsigned, as do vets like Phil Kessel, Derick Brassard and Paul Stastny.
Florida has not announced an official date for the start of training camp, but it’s expected to be around the 20th or 21st of September.
