Utah HC signs Kailer Yamamoto to PTO

The Utah Hockey Club has signed right winger Kailer Yamamoto to a professional tryout.

The 25-year-old has 303 games of NHL experience and scored eight goals and 16 points in 59 games with the Seattle Kraken last year.

Yamamoto was a first-round draft pick, 22nd overall, of the Edmonton Oilers in 2017. His progression peaked in 2019-20, where he was one shy of averaging a point per game.

That season was cut short due to the pandemic, after which he struggled to replicate that same success.

In a trade last summer, the Oilers sent him and teammate Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for “future considerations.” The Red Wings kept Kostin but bought out Yamamoto the next day.

Yamamoto signed with the Kraken three days later, becoming the first Washington-born player to play for Seattle.

What is a PTO?

PTO stands for “professional tryout.” It’s a contract which lasts the duration of training camp and the preseason and gives teams the opportunity to test how the player fits in the lineup. There’s usually an understanding that if the player performs well enough, he will have a full contract waiting for him.

Players usually sign PTOs as a last resort, meaning that no team would give them a full contract. They often end in the player signing with the team, but in many cases the player is released from the PTO and ends up retiring or playing in another league, often in Europe.

It has happened on occasion where a player signs a PTO with one team and then signs a proper contract with a different team upon being released. This was the case with Sonny Milano, who, in 2022, went to the Calgary Flames’ training camp on a PTO, but signed a proper contract with the Washington Capitals.