Pro Tryouts Paying Off For Some NHLers

Every year, a handful of NHL’ers on the brink of calling it a career head to training camp with new teams on tryout contracts, hoping to stick in the league for just one more season. These players, once leaders and solid contributors with their former teams, had a couple of sub-par seasons to put them in such a position. Looking to rebound, they sign with whatever club is willing to put them on the ice and let them prove their worth.

This year, the lowly Atlanta Thrashers proved to be a haven for this kind of player, bringing in four NHL veterans on such contracts: forwards Maxim Afinogenov and Dan Fritsche, defenseman Mark Popovic, and goaltender Manny Legace.

Afinogenov spent much of last year hurt, scoring only 20 points in 48 games. He's missed chunks of the past three seasons, but when he's on the ice, he's a dangerous player, scoring 61 points in 56 games three seasons ago. The Thrashers, desperate for offensive firepower and depth behind Ilya Kovalchuk and Viktor Kozlov, retained the Russian.

Popovic spent time with the Thrashers from 2005 to 2008, scoring only three points (all assists) in 43 games with the pro club. He was a strong contributor with the team's minor league affiliate in Chicago three seasons ago, and he had a decent season with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL last year, scoring 22 points in 52 games. Atlanta decided to keep him, looking to shore up a defensive core led by Pavel Kubina and Ron Hainsey.

Fritsche and Legace, however, weren't so lucky; neither were signed to contracts with the team. Both fell off the NHL map last year, with Fritsche only playing a handful of games with the New York Rangers before being traded to Minnesota. Legace lost his starting goaltender job in St. Louis to Chris Mason and spent time in the minor leagues last year — a far cry from winning the Stanley Cup in Detroit in 2002, albeit as a backup.

In Minnesota, two forwards accepted tryout deals with the Wild after leaving two incredibly different teams: After Pittsburgh failed to re-sign him in the offseason, Petr Sykora joined the team in camp, and Andy Hilbert accepted a tryout after leaving the train wreck that is the New York Islanders. Sykora signed a one-year deal with the club; Hilbert is still waiting.

Like Afinogenov, Popovic, and Sykora, defenseman Darryl Sydor also landed on his feet, signing a deal with the St. Louis Blues. Sydor has won two Stanley Cups in his career, with Dallas in 1999 and Tampa Bay in 2004, and started last season with eventual Cup winner Pittsburgh.

Some players haven't been so lucky. Kyle Calder and Jassen Cullimore were released by the Anaheim Ducks, and neither Blair Betts (Philadelphia) nor Ryan Bayda (Pittsburgh) have managed to land an NHL deal yet. (Bayda will start the year with Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate, as he signed a two-way contract.) At least they've received camp invitations — more than players like Miroslav Satan, Michael Peca, and Manny Fernandez can say.