NY Islanders affiliate Bridgeport Islanders sign Jacob Pivonka, Christian Krygier to amateur tryouts

In the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, the NY Islanders selected Jacob Pivonka in the fourth round, 103rd overall, and Christian Krygier in the seventh round, 196th overall. It's been five years since the Islanders seleted Pivonka and Krygier and they were each due to put pen to paper with the Islanders organization before they lost the rights to both players. On Tuesday morning, although each player didn't in fact sign an entry-level contract with the varsity Islanders, Pivonka and Krygier will each get a chance to remain with the organization signing amateur tryouts with their American Hockey League affiliate Bridgeport Islanders.

Pivonka has spent the last five seasons playing in the NCAA, the first four with the University of Notre Dame and this past season with the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The 23-year-old center is described as a responsible two-way center who tends to thrive more defensively than he does offensively and has an innate ability to win faceoff draws. This past season with the Mavericks, Pivonka had a career year scoring 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points in 37 games. In the 2021-22 season, the final year with Notre Dame, he served as the Fighting Irish's captain.

Mich like Pivonka, Krygier was also a fifth-year NCAA player, except he played all five years with the Spartans. Described as a defensive defenseman and "of the same mold as Scott Mayfield," per Islanders prospect writer Michel Anderson, Krygier certainly didn't pile up the points across five seasons scoring just 20 in total. His best season came in the 2021-22 season when he potted a goal and six assists for eight points. This past season serving as the Spartan's alternate captain, Krygier scored a goal and three assists in 28 games. Krygier will soon turn 23 years old on May 5th of this year.

Pivonka and Krygier will now each have a chance to earn professional contracts with the Islanders AHL affiliate.