Tom Sestito gets tryout deal from Penguins, continues odd journey

Tom Sestito’s NHL journey has been an odd one, right through his professional tryout contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins that was announced on Wednesday.

He punched his way into the NHL, amassing over 300 penalty minutes in three seasons in the OHL, then 202 in the AHL before getting his first NHL game with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He would appear in 12 more before moving over to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012, because of course.

He played in 21 games with Philly and then it was off to the Vancouver Canucks for three season, including one that seemed to indicate Sestito might actually have something more to offer than pummeling faces. He had nine points in 77 games under John Tortorella, albeit with with 213 PIMs, a career high. (He also picked up 27 PIMs in one second of ice time. Which is a heck of a trick.)

But in the next season, he was persona non grata under Willie Desjardins. He was sent to the AHL, and then the Canucks announced he wasn’t going to play there either:

“Tom Sestito will not play for either club for the remainder of this season. Sestito will workout on his own and will continue to receive his salary while the Canucks work to identify a new club where he can continue his career.”

Sestito said he wasn’t given a “fair shake” and vowed he’s return to the NHL to prove the haters wrong. “I don't have hard feelings against Vancouver. I just want to make sure they know they made the wrong choice,” he said.

So now he arrives in Pittsburgh. From the Pens:

Sestito, 27, has played parts of seven NHL seasons with Columbus, Philadelphia and Vancouver, producing 18 points (10G-8A) and 432 penalty minutes in 137 career regular-season games.

At 6-foot-5, 228 pounds, Sestito will be the largest player attending Pittsburgh’s training camp. His best NHL season came with Vancouver in 2013-14 when he posted career highs in games (77), goals (5), assists (4), points (9) and penalty minutes (213). His 213 penalty minutes led the NHL and his 121 hits ranked third on the Canucks.

Steve Downie, the Penguins’ only player with more than 80 PIMs last season, has moved on so the team is obviously fishing for some muscle to look after Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and the rest. Is Sestito that guy? He’ll have a chance to prove it. (And any time Sestito has more time for hockey and less time for political commentary, the better off he'll be.)

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