Penguins relinquish rights to prospects Ryan Jones, Nikita Pavlychev
The Penguins have relinquished the rights to prospects Ryan Jones and Nikita Pavlychev and allowed both players to become unrestricted free agents.
Jones and Pavlychev were each drafted by the Penguins and played at the NCAA level the past four seasons. The NHL’s deadline to sign drafted college players was 5 p.m. Saturday.
They were two of 21 players around the NHL who became unrestricted free agents Saturday.
Jones, 24, is a 6-foot-2, 206-pound left-handed defenseman who the Penguins selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft (N0. 121 overall). In four seasons at Nebraska-Omaha, Jones appeared in 141 games and scored 42 points (four goals, 38 assists).
Following the departure of Jones, the Penguins now only have two members of their 2016 draft class still with the organization. Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist (second round) and defenseman Niclas Almari (fifth round) each spent the 2019-20 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Goaltender Filip Gustavsson (second round) is a member of the Ottawa Senators organization while defenseman Connor Hall’s (third round) rights were relinquished in 2018. Defenseman Joseph Masonius was released from his AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2018 and signed with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL.
Pavlychev, 23, is a 6-7, 225-pound forward who was selected by the Penguins in the seventh round of the 2015 draft (No. 197 overall). Through four seasons at Penn State, Pavlychev played in 137 games and scored 70 points (36 goals, 34 assists).
With Pavlychev’s departure, the only member of the Penguins’ 2015 draft class still with the organization is forward Dominik Simon (fifth round). Forward Daniel Sprong (second round) is a member of the Washington Capitals organization while forward Frederik Tiffels (sixth round) had his contract terminated in 2018 in order to return to his native Germany.
Another Penn State forward, Denis Smirnov, became an unrestricted free agent as well on Saturday. He was a sixth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2017.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.