Penguins Re-Sign Jack St. Ivany, Gruden to Multi-Year Deals

The Pittsburgh Penguins took care of two of their restricted free agents Tuesday, signing Jack St. Ivany to a three-year, bargain deal and Jonathan Gruden to a two-year deal.

Both deals carry a $775,000 salary cap hit.

St. Ivany, 24, made his NHL debut on March 22 against Dallas. The Penguins lost that game and lost again in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche two days later, but St. Ivany became the Penguins’ regular on the right side of the third pairing.

With St. Ivany in the lineup, the Penguins were 8-3-3.

The Philadelphia Flyers drafted the tough defenseman in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, but he did not sign with Philadelphia at the end of his four-year college career. Instead, the Yale-then-Boston College defenseman signed with the Penguins as an unrestricted free agent. Former Penguins GM Ron Hextall was also the Flyers’ GM who drafted St. Ivany and later the Penguins GM who signed him.

St. Ivany had one assist in 14 games. Over two AHL seasons, he played 117 games, scoring four goals with 19 points.

Jonathan Gruden

Moments after announcing St. Ivany’s signing, the Penguins also announced the signing of Gruden, a speedy grinder who slowly climbed the organization’s depth chart.

Gruden, 24, was also a fourth-round selection in 2018. The Ottawa Senators selected him 95th overall, and the Penguins acquired him when they traded goalie Matt Murray to Ottawa in 2020.

Gruden made his NHL debut with three games last season but played 13 games this season, scoring his first NHL goal (1-0-1). This was his fourth professional season.