NHL training camps will be opening league wide in just about 4 weeks. With that, the point of the NHL off-season where remaining UFA’s sign PTO’s has arrived. Just yesterday the Washington Capitals announced Jakub Vrana will be attending camp on a PTO as well as former Senators 1st round pick Logan Brown will be joining the Lightning for camp on a PTO.
While the Hurricanes main focus right now is signing RFA forward Seth Jarvis, it’s quite possible, even probable, that the Hurricanes will look to bring in some veterans to create competition at camp with young prospects Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau who will both be pushing for roster spots.
Related: Is Minnesota Wild’s Matthew Boldy A Comparable For Seth Jarvis’s Next Contract?
If GM Eric Tulsky does decide to bring a few veterans to training camp on a PTO, there are a still few UFA’s available that could be useful to NHL teams. While most of them aren’t needle movers at this point in their careers, they could still provide solid depth and production at a low cost. Here are a few of those players that are still available options to bring to camp.
Tyler Johnson- Gone are the days of Tyler Johnson being a forward who can score 70+ points from his days as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the 34 year-old Johnson showed last season that he can still be a useful contributor to a team. Last season in Chicago, Johnson recorded 31 points in 67 games. Johnson can still chip in offensively, especially on the PP with 17 of his 31 points coming on the man advantage. With the losses of Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen and Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Hurricanes could use Johnson in a middle-six role and on the PP.
Mike Hoffman- Mike Hoffman could be a low-risk/high reward signing for a team on a PTO. Hoffman, 34, is coming off the worst statistical season of his career, only scoring 10 goals and 23 points in 66 games last season for the San Jose Sharks. However, Hoffman does have a lengthy background of being a productive sniper. Hoffman owns 6 consecutive 20+ goal seasons to his name, with his best being a 36 goal season with the Florida Panthers in 18-19. While he has failed to reach 20 goals since the 19-20 season, if put in the right situation playing with a play-making center, Hoffman could return to scoring at least 20 goals.
Kailer Yamamoto- If the Hurricanes are looking for a possible diamond in the rough type of find this late in the off-season, it could be Yamamoto. At the age of only 25 years-old, the former 1st round pick in 2017 is still looking for a home for this season. While Yamamoto had a rough go in Seattle last year with only scoring 16 points in 59 games for the Kraken, he still is just a couple of seasons removed from scoring 20 goals and 41 points back in 21-22 when he was with the Edmonton Oilers. Given his young age, he could be attractive to teams with the thought of he can still return to form given a fresh start and new opportunity.
