Penguins Sign Free-Agent Defenseman Jack St. Ivany

Ron Hextall liked Jack St. Ivany enough to draft him for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018. And he still likes him enough to sign him as a free agent for the Pittsburgh Penguins today.

St. Ivany, 23, got a two-year, entry-level deal that carries a salary-cap hit of $950,000 if he plays in the NHL.

He is 6-foot-3, 201 pounds and played two seasons at Yale University before transferring to Boston College for two more.

St. Ivany finished his college career with 12 goals and 48 assists in 115 games, including four goals and 20 assists in 35 games during his senior season with the Eagles. He was a third-team all-star in Hockey East in 2021-22.

Before going to Yale, St. Ivany played two seasons with Sioux Falls in the USHL, where he was teammates with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Colin Swoyer. He is a native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., and earned a silver medal with Team USA at the 2019 world junior championships.

Penguins forward Ryan Poehling played with him on that national squad.

The Flyers, with Ron Hextall as GM, selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, but they declined to sign him by the deadline Monday, at which point he became an unrestricted free agent.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were interested in St. Ivany as soon as he went on the market, but as was noted in a PHN story Tuesday, several other clubs also were hoping to convince him to join them.