One area the Penguins wanted to address this summer was defensive depth. And, on Thursday, they made another move in that direction.
The Pittsburgh Penguins signed defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov to a professional tryout contract (PTO), and he will be one of, presumably, five defensemen looking to grab the sixth and final spot in the top-six out of training camp.
The 26-year-old, 6-foot-3, 222-pound Russian defenseman was undrafted and signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2019. He played parts of four seasons with San Jose, registering three goals and 12 points in 81 games played, and he was put on unconditional waivers by the Sharks in June.
Knyzhov does have some experience playing under Penguins’ new assistant coach David Quinn, and he spent some time alongside Erik Karlsson during their time in San Jose. As mentioned before, he figures to battle for one of the final roster spots in camp this fall.
Fun fact: Karlsson assisted on Knyzhov’s first NHL goal.
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