This summer has been a difficult one for free agents and a number of depth forwards are heading to training camp on professional tryout contracts. Find a complete list of players trying to catch on via PTOs here.

The Hockey News

This off-season has been a difficult one for free agents, which has led to one of the most impressive crops of players signing professional tryouts in recent memory. Some players who were thought to be possible free agent targets — players like Curtis Glencross and Tomas Fleischmann — have had to settle for coming into camp with the hope of landing a job via training camp.

Players on PTOs will begin their quest for jobs later this week when training camps open league-wide. How many of these players land NHL contracts is yet to be seen, but some teams could end up benefitting big time from an off-season in which free agent contracts were hard to come by.

Here are the players currently on PTOs:

Anaheim Ducks



Sheldon Brookbank, D (2014-15: Kazan, KHL. Stats: 35GP, 3G, 4A, 7Pts.)



Vitaly Vishnevski, D (2014-15: Yaroslavl, KHL. Stats: 43GP, 0G, 3A, 3Pts.)



Brendan Burke, G (2014-15: Calgary/Portland, WHL. Stats: 38G, 20W, 11L, 4OT, 2.98 GAA, .918 SP)

Arizona Coyotes



Keith Aulie, D (2014-15: Edmonton. Stats: 31GP, 0G, 1A, 1Pt.)



Corey Potter, D (2014-15: Adirondack, AHL. Stats: 0G, 10A, 10Pts.)



Joey Crabb, RW (2014-15: Hartford, AHL. Stats: 66GP, 12G, 16A, 28Pts.)

Boston Bruins



Jonas Gustavsson, G (2014-15: Detroit. Stats: 7GP, 3W, 3L, 1OT, 2.56 GAA, .911 SP)

Buffalo Sabres



Patrick Kaleta, LW (2014-15: Buffalo. Stats: 42GP, 0G, 3A, 3Pts.)

Calgary Flames



Douglas Murray, D (2014-15: Kolner, DEL. Stats: 8GP, 0G, 1A, 1Pt.)



Ryan Wilson, D (2014-15: Colorado. Stats: 3GP, 0G, 0A)



Aaron Johnson, D (2014-15: Binghamton, AHL. Stats: 73GP, 6G, 29A, 35Pts.)

Chicago Blackhawks



Daniel Paille, LW (2014-15: Boston. Stats: 71GP, 6G, 7A, 13Pts.)



Jan Hejda, D (2014-15: Colorado. Stats: 81GP, 1G, 12A, 13Pts.)



Lubomir Visnovsky, D (2014-15: Islanders. Stats: 53GP, 5G, 15A, 20Pts.)



Tomas Kopecky, LW (2014-15: Florida. Stats: 62GP, 2G, 6A, 8Pts.)



Michal Rozsival, D (2014-15: Chicago. Stats: 65GP, 1G, 12A, 13Pts.)

Colorado Avalanche



Jack Skille, RW (2014-15: Columbus. Stats: 45GP, 6G, 2A, 8Pts.)



Andrej Meszaros, D (2014-15: Buffalo. Stats: 60GP, 7G, 7A, 14Pts.)

Columbus Blue Jackets



James Sheppard, LW (2014-15: San Jose, Rangers. Stats: 71GP, 7G, 11A, 18Pts.)



Antti Pihlstrom, LW (2014-15: Ufa, KHL. Stats: 60GP, 16G, 12A, 28Pts.)

Florida Panthers



David Booth, LW (2014-15: Toronto. Stats: 59GP, 7G, 6A, 13Pts.)



Martin Havlat, RW (2014-15: New Jersey. Stats: 40GP, 5G, 9A, 14Pts.)

Los Angeles Kings



Peter Budaj, G (2014-15: St. John's, AHL. Stats: 19GP, 0W, 9L, 1OT, 3.55 GAA, .888 SP)

Minnesota Wild



Leland Irving, G (2014-15: Ufa, KHL. Stats: 20GP, 2W, 8L, 3.35 GAA, .883 SP)

Montreal Canadiens



Tomas Flesichmann, LW (2014-15: Florida, Anaheim. Stats: 66GP, 8G, 19A, 27Pts.)

New Jersey Devils



Lee Stempniak, RW (2014-15: Rangers, Winnipeg. Stats: 71GP, 15G, 13A, 28Pts.)



Tyler Kennedy, RW (2014-15: San Jose, Islanders. Stats: 38GP, 6G, 8A, 14Pts.)

New York Islanders



Steve Bernier, RW (2014-15: New Jersey. Stats: 67GP, 16G, 16A, 32Pts.)



Matt Carkner, D (2014-15: Bridgeport, AHL. Stats: 19GP, 2G, 1A, 3Pts.)



Tyler Barnes, RW (2014-15: Toledo, ECHL. Stats: 71GP, 34G, 40A, 74Pts.)



Parker Milner, G (2014-15: Quad City, ECHL. Stats: 43GP, 24W, 14L, 2OT, 2.28 GAA, .920 SP)



Eric Boulton, LW (2014-15: Islanders. Stats: 10GP, 2G, 0A, 2Pts.)

New York Rangers



Brett Bellemore, D (2014-15: Carolina. Stats: 49GP, 2G, 8A, 10Pts.)

Pittsburgh Penguins



Tom Sestito, LW (2014-15: Vancouver. Stats: 3GP, 0G, 1A, 1Pt.)



Sergei Gonchar, D (2014-15: Dallas, Montreal. Stats: 48GP, 1G, 13A, 14Pts.)

St. Louis Blues



Scott Gomez, C (2014-15: New Jersey. Stats: 58GP, 7G, 27A, 34Pts.)



Scottie Upshall, LW (2014-15: Florida. Stats: 63GP, 8G, 7A, 15Pts.)

Tampa Bay Lightning



Ray Emery, G (2014-15: Philadelphia. Stats: 31GP, 10W, 11L, 7OT, 3.06 GAA, .894 SP)



Ryan Martindale, C (2014-15: Syracuse, San Antonio, AHL. Stats: 64GP, 16G, 11A, 27Pts.)

Toronto Maple Leafs



Brad Boyes, RW (2014-15: Florida. Stats: 78GP, 14G, 24A, 38Pts.)



Curtis Glencross, LW (2014-15: Calgary, Washington. Stats: 71GP, 13G, 22A, 35Pts.)



Devin Setoguchi, RW (2014-15: Adirondack, AHL. Stats: 3G, 7A, 10Pts.)



Mark Fraser, D (2014-15: New Jersey. Stats: 34GP, 0G, 4A, 4Pts.)

Vancouver Canucks



John Kurtz, LW (2014-15: Norfolk, AHL. Stats: 72GP, 4G, 5A, 9Pts.)



Travis Ehrhardt, D (2014-15: Utica, AHL. Stats: 41GP, 3G, 4A, 7Pts.)

Washington Capitals



Derek Roy, C (2014-15: Nashville, Edmonton. Stats: 72GP, 12G, 20A, 32Pts.)

Winnipeg Jets



Thomas Raffl, LW (2014-15: Salzburg, Austria. Stats: 52GP, 26G, 27A, 53Pts.)



David Leggio, G (2014-15: Portland, Bridgeport, AHL. Stats: 28GP, 8W, 15L, 3.66 GAA, .869 SP)

(Last updated Sept. 16, 12:00 p.m. ET)