Penguins Sign Boyle and Bartkowski to PTOs

For black and gold fans who’ve waited patiently for general manager Ron Hextall to fulfill his all-but-promised mandate to add some size and push back, we’ve gotten our wish…sort of.

The Penguins announced today that hulking center Brian Boyle and defenseman Matt Bartkowski have been invited to training camp on a tryout basis.

A 13-year veteran with 805 NHL games on his resume, the 36-year-old Boyle has long been a solid bottom-six center for a number of teams, including the Rangers, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Devils, Predators and, most recently, Panthers. At 6’6” and 245 pounds, he’s an uber-hefty presence who hits and grinds, wins faceoffs and plays solid defense. Although not much of a playmaker, he’s tallied as many as 21 goals in a season and notched 18 goals as recently as 2018-19, so he does possess a scoring touch.

For the record, Boyle will drop the gloves in defense of a teammate. Over the course of his career he’s tangled with the likes of Tom Wilson and Zdeno Chara. However, he’s not an especially accomplished fighter. Even if he makes the team, he won’t Sully (pun intended) the team’s Ivory Soap image.

Boyle’s also a cancer survivor, having overcome chronic myeloid leukemia.

My take? Had the Pens pursued Boyle even up to a couple of years ago I would’ve been thrilled. However, after sitting out the entire 2020-21 campaign at the professional level (he did participate in the 2021 IIHF World Championships), you wonder how much he’s got left.

Not to be pessimistic or diss Hextall’s efforts (I know he’s nailed to the salary-cap wall), but to me it feels like a token move. See, we’re trying to address our size issue like we said we would. Reminiscent in a way of Jordan Nolan, another wide-bodied veteran who attended camp last season before being shipped to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He departed after playing just two games for the Baby Pens.

And we all know how much Mike Sullivan loves big guys (not), although it should be noted the Pens’ skipper served as an assistant coach with the Rangers during Boyle’s stay on Broadway. So at the very least, they figure to be familiar with each other. Perhaps a factor in the signing.

The Bartkowski invite? To be honest…a head-scratcher. On the plus side, Matt’s skated in 256 NHL games and plays a fairly solid, stay-at-home style. The 6’1″, 201-pounder will stick his nose in and he can fight a little, at least in the Penguins’ scheme of things. Too, he’s a Mount Lebanon native, which adds a feel-good-local-boy theme to the proceedings.

The downside? He’s 33 years old, has played in only three NHL games over the past three seasons and is a left-handed shot, while the Pens’ glaring need is on the right side.

Maybe another depth move for the Baby Pens, I don’t know.

Still waiting/hoping to see if the Pens offer Erik Gudbranson a similar tryout deal. I’m not holding my breath.