Why a PTO Might Be Worth the Canucks' Gamble

I have to admit that I’m a PTO (professional tryout) kind of guy. I love the idea of a second chance, and I know that anyone who laces up NHL skates can play good hockey. I also believe whether a player fits a team or not is a huge thing, perhaps bigger than people believe.

There’s one more thing I’ve always liked about a professional tryout. There’s a little bit of mystery attached to it. Sometimes I don’t know much about those players, and who doesn’t like a good “where did he come from story?”

A player is still out there. Nobody else seems particularly interested. His NHL career may be hanging by a thread. Then somebody gives him a chance to come to camp and prove that everybody else might have been wrong.

That’s where the Vancouver Canucks might want to look this summer.

There are a couple of forwards still sitting out there who fit the classic PTO description: Philipp Kurashev and Pavol Regenda. Neither one is likely to walk into Vancouver and suddenly become a top-six forward. If that were the expectation, they probably wouldn't still be looking for work in August. But that isn't really the point of a PTO.

Kurashev is 26 and has already played enough NHL hockey to know what he is. He can play centre or wing, has shown some offensive ability and had stretches in San Jose where he looked like a useful top-nine player. The problem is that he never established himself as a regular. That's exactly what makes him interesting for a tryout.

Regenda is a different kind of gamble. He's 6-foot-4, brings some size and has shown that he can finish when he gets an opportunity. He scored nine goals in just 24 NHL games last season, including a hat trick. But then he spent much of the rest of the season watching from the press box.

Would a successful PTO find a place to grow with the Canucks?

Sitting in the press box tells you something. It doesn't necessarily tell you that the player can't play. It might simply tell you that nobody has found the right way to use him. And this is where I think PTOs can be particularly useful for a team like Vancouver.

The Canucks don't need to give either player a contract today. They don't have to convince themselves that one of them is going to become an important part of the next Canucks team. They can simply bring them into camp, put them beside different players, give them some responsibility and see what happens.

Maybe Kurashev looks like the player San Jose hoped he would become. Maybe Regenda's size and scoring touch suddenly make a little more sense in Vancouver. Or maybe neither one is good enough. That's fine, too.

The Canucks are risking very little in finding out with a PTO.

We tend to think of roster building as being about the big moves — the trades, the free-agent signings and the draft picks. But sometimes the smart move is simply creating another opportunity for somebody to surprise you. A PTO costs very little. What it can buy you is information. And every once in a while, that information turns into a player you didn't know you needed.