Former 4th overall pick signs PTO with division rival
With training camps set to open in just over one week, teams are attempting to get their ducks in a row, inking players to professional tryouts to attempt to ramp up the level of competition as players fight for limited positions on NHL rosters.
On Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils made a splash, announcing that they had signed former 4th overall pick Thomas Hickey to a PTO. Hickey had originally been drafted by the New York Islanders with the 4th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
Hickey had only played two games for the Isles last season and spent most of the year in the AHL, split between the Bridgeport Islanders and the Ontario Reign, but the addition of Alexander Romanov to the Isles' blueline at the draft pushed Hickey even further out of the picture on Long Island.
Signing with the Devils, of all teams, could be viewed as a bit of a slap in the face to his former team, as you don't often see free agents sign within the same division - at least not with a close proximity rival. But perhaps this is just an opportunity for Hickey to remain close to home while he competes at training camp and tries to turn it into a deal elsewhere - though, if the Devils offer him a deal, I doubt someone who just spend a year in the minor leagues would look a gift horse in the mouth.
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