It's hard to believe, but we are entering training camp in the NHL. With prospects' challenges wrapping up over the weekend across the league, the Boston Bruins taking part in Western New York in Buffalo, it's time for camps to begin for the 2025-26 season.
Most rosters are set for the first day of camp, but there are still some players around the league who are still unsigned, including former Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. It's rather surprising that the former Boston University blueliner is still unemployed at this point in the offseason.
Former Bruins defenseman still a free agent is surprising with training camps opening this week
It's one thing that he wasn't signed over the summer, but, surprisingly, nobody has taken a chance on him yet with a PTO. Last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he had a goal and 39 assists, and for the first time in his career, he averaged over 20 minutes a game at 20:37.
The most important stat of all was not his 39 assists, but he played in all 82 games for the Penguins, something he never came close to doing during his time in Boston. Only twice with the Black and Gold did he play 70-plus games in a single season because of injuries.
Now there are a number of teams that could use him and still give him a PTO. The Toronto Maple Leafs, who acquired Brandon Carlo from the Bruins last March, could take a chance with him, so could the Detroit Red Wings or Colorado Avalanche. The Bruins? I think that ship has sailed, and a reunion is very unlikely.
Grzelcyk still has a lot of hockey left in him when healthy, and clearly, he's healthy. If he doesn't land in a training camp on a PTO, then he could wait out the beginning of the season and wait until a team suffers an injury and is in need of defenseman because of an injury. Regardless, this is a position that Grzelcyk is not used to being in in September in his pro career.