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Mark Pysyk was one of the more veteran players on the Calgary Wranglers’ roster last season at the age of 32. He had more years in professional hockey than most of his teammates and came to Calgary with over 500 games in the NHL under his belt. While he is no longer at his youthful peak as a defenceman, he still made an impact with the Wranglers and was a very positive interpersonal chemistry creator for the team behind the scenes.
The past
Mark Pysyk is a born and raised Albertan who grew up in Sherwood Park, AB and played youth hockey in Strathcona and Edmonton. For his time in the WHL, he was with the Edmonton Oil Kings for the entirety of his junior career. He also held leadership positions as an alternate captain in 2009-10 and the captain of the squad in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Pysyk’s draft year was in 2010 when he was drafted in the first round, 23rd overall by the Buffalo Sabres. He finished up his junior career with the Oil Kings with some international play sprinkled in between by representing Canada at the Canada Pacific U17 tournament in 2008-09 and the Canadian U20 World Juniors team in 2011-12.
He split time between the Sabres and Rochester Americans for the first few years of his professional career between 2012 and 2015 before joining the Florida Panthers organization for the 2016-17 season. He played the next four seasons as a full-time NHLer with the Panthers then joined the Dallas Stars in 2020-21 for 36 games. Pysyk went back to where he started with the Sabres in 2021-22 for 68 games then faced a speed bump in his career.
He wasn’t immune to injuries and most recently, he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in 2022-23 that kept him out of the lineup all season. He was with the Detroit Red Wings organization at the time but didn’t skate in a single game with the team. Going into 2023-24, Pysyk was ready to play again but didn’t have a contract. His overall NHL numbers going into last season were 521 games played with 28 goals and 76 assists.
The present
Mark Pysyk was a mid-season addition for the Wranglers coming to the organization from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was signed to a professional tryout in early November and played eight games with the team and did not register a point.
Just over a month into his PTO, he was signed by Calgary to a one-year, two-way contract on Dec. 2. Calgary put him on waivers shortly after for the purpose of AHL assignment. He cleared and his first game with the Wranglers was on Dec. 8 against the Manitoba Moose.
Pysyk played in most of the remaining games with the Wranglers but did miss some time in February due to an injury. He ended up playing in 29 regular season games with Calgary putting up four assists. He also played in all six playoff games and finished with a +1 rating.
Pysyk’s combination of on-ice and off-ice contributions made him a highly regarded teammate. In Yan Kuznetsov’s exit interview, he had nothing but nice things to say about his fellow blueliner. He said:
“He’s just a great guy in the locker room. Always smiling. You can see it on the pre-game pictures. He’s just an awesome guy. He helps. It doesn’t matter if you’re old, young, he always helps you out. He’s always in good spirits and he’s a great player too. It’s fun to look up to him and see what he does on the ice and just try to replicate it.”
The pre-game photos Kuznetsov refers to include quite a history of ones like these.
The future
As it stands on the day this was written, Mark Pysyk is unsigned for the 2024-25 season. He is an unrestricted free agent but there’s no doubt he will find at least an AHL affiliate to join next season with his sheer experience alone. If he must go somewhere else we wish him the best but he would still be a welcome return for the Wranglers.
