Penguins sign free agent defender Jack St. Ivany

The Pittsburgh Penguins added to the organization on Saturday, signing free agent defender Jack St. Ivany. St. Ivany was originally drafted in 2018 by Ron Hextall when he was with the Flyers in the fourth round in 2018. Philadelphia and St. Ivany didn’t come to terms and he became a free agent last week.

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed college free agent defenseman Jack St. Ivany to a two-year, entry-level contract, it was announced today by general manager Ron Hextall.

The contract will run through the 2023-24 season and carries an average annual value of $950,000 at the NHL level.

St. Ivany, 23, played four years of collegiate hockey at Boston College (2020-22) and Yale University (2018-20) where he recorded 12 goals, 48 assists and 60 points in 115 career games. The defenseman had his best season in 2021-22 with Boston College, establishing career highs in games played (35), assists (20) and points (24). In his senior season he was named to the Hockey East Third All-Star Team after ranking fifth among conference defensemen in assists and points.

Prior to his collegiate career, the 6-foot-3, 201-pound defenseman played two seasons in the United States Hockey League with the Sioux Falls Stampede from 2016-18. In 106 career USHL games, St. Ivany recorded seven goals, 39 assists and 46 points and represented the Stampede as an alternate captain during his second season. He was teammates with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Colin Swoyer during his two seasons in Sioux Falls.

The Manhattan Beach, CA native represented Team USA at the 2019 World Junior Championship, playing in seven games and winning a silver medal. St. Ivany was teammates with Penguins forward Ryan Poehling at the tournament.

St. Ivany is a nice addition to the Pens, who only have one player in the organization from the 2015-18 draft classes (that being forward Filip Hallander, who even then they traded away and then traded back for).

Defensively, Wilkes-Barre can use the boost too. The team has re-signed captain Taylor Fedun and added veteran Xavier Ouellet for the AHL club. They also have recently signed collefe FA Collin Swoyer and Josh Maniscalco, who has bounced between the ECHL and AHL levels lately. Beyond that, WB/S also has Jon Lizzotte and Mitch Reinke signed for next season on AHL only contracts to help round out their lineup.

St. Ivany has the profile of what Hextall has drafted in Pittsburgh for his defensemen — he’s a lanky and big 6’3, 200 pound player. Last season was St. Ivany’s best in college, he put up four goals and added 20 assists in 35 games for Boston College. That was his second season with the Eagles, after spending the first two years of his collegiate career at Yale.

The Manhattan Beach, CA native is also a right shot, which is always in demand and another nice attribute to carry. After this contract, the Penguins have given out 47 of their 50 NHL contracts for next season out, and