We’re firmly into the thick of PTO season around the NHL, with teams opting to invite established veterans to their training camps with the goal of insulating their younger players and creating more competition for open roster spots.

Teams have largely opted against releasing hockey news over the last few days out of respect for the late Johnny and Matty Gaudreau, but a couple of signings have slipped through the cracks. We’ll start out in Boston, where the Bruins announced Saturday that they have invited forward Tyler Johnson to their training camp on a tryout basis.

Johnson, who turned 34 on Thursday, collected 17 goals and 31 points in 67 games with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2023-24 regular season. He spent the last three years with the Blackhawks after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in a salary cap-related move in 2021.

The Spokane, Washington-born Johnson won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021 and helped the team reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2015. In 738 career games with the Lightning and Blackhawks, Johnson has collected 193 goals and 431 points; he’s added 32 goals and 65 points in 116 playoff contests.

Another former Lightning forward inked a PTO deal last week, with Austin Watson agreeing to terms on a tryout deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Watson’s agency announced the news on Wednesday.

Watson, 32, skated in 33 games with the Lightning during the 2023-24 regular season, collecting two goals, four points, and 93 penalty minutes. He did not dress in any of the team’s five games in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A first-round pick of the Nashville Predators back in 2010, Watson made his NHL debut with the club in the 2012-13 season and established himself as a regular just in time to help the Preds reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

The Predators traded Watson to the Ottawa Senators in 2020 and he spent three seasons in Canada’s capital before signing with the Lightning. Now, the 6’4″ left wing is the latest player to enter the long-standing pipeline between the Lightning and Red Wings organizations.

The Canucks have yet to sign any players to PTOs, but plenty of experienced players remain on the market with the start of training camp looming. Last month, our own Stephan Roget and Tyson Cole took a look at nine players who the Canucks could consider inviting to their own camp, and six of them remain on the market today.