Final season was a troublesome one for veteran defenseman Jan Rutta. He handled some lower-body accidents, and when he was within the lineup for San Jose, he was usually on the third pairing. That has definitely contributed to his going unsigned by means of the primary seven weeks of free company, however that’s coming to an finish. Earlier this week, Blick’s Gregory Beaud (h/t The Hockey Information) reported that the blueliner is signing with Geneve-Servette in Switzerland.
Rutta performed in 54 video games for the Sharks final season, selecting up simply three objectives and 6 assists in a bit over 17 minutes an evening. Nonetheless, he took a daily activate their penalty kill and performed some powerful defensive minutes. Speculatively, NHL groups could possibly be eyeing him as a PTO candidate to fill a sixth or seventh function if issues went nicely in coaching camp however clearly, a full contract provide has but to materialize and in some unspecified time in the future, a assured deal abroad could possibly be seen as
a greater possibility than making an attempt to earn a contract off a tryout.
Rutta debuted pretty late within the NHL together with his first season coming on the age of 27 with Chicago. Since then, he has suited up in 417 regular-season video games between 4 totally different golf equipment, placing up 23 objectives and 75 assists together with 479 blocked pictures. He additionally has a pair of Stanley Cup rings from his time with Tampa Bay.
Rutta would be the third veteran NHL participant to affix that workforce this offseason. Beforehand, it signed wingers Jesse Puljujarvi and Jimmy Vesey and has one import slot remaining that it seems they wish to use to usher in a veteran defender.
