Rutherford: Jordan Nolan could earn NHL contract during Penguins’ camp

PITTSBURGH — Jordan Nolan has a pedigree. A pretty solid reputation, too. And a couple of Stanley Cup rings.

The one thing he doesn’t possess at the moment is an NHL contract, but Jim Rutherford said Monday that could change if Nolan proves during training camp that he merits a spot on the Penguins’ major-league roster.

Or, at least on the taxi squad teams will carry during the 2020-21 NHL season that’s scheduled to begin Jan. 13.

Nolan, the son of former Penguins winger and NHL coach Ted Nolan and a two-time champion with the Los Angeles Kings, signed an American Hockey League contract with the Penguins’ farm team in Wilkes-Barre a couple of weeks ago.

Nonetheless, Rutherford said Nolan will be invited to the training that’s supposed to get underway Jan. 3 at PPG Paints Arena, and made it clear he is a candidate to get some work in the NHL during the coming season.

“We like this player,” he said. “We’ll see how camp goes. At any time, we could flip his American League deal to an NHL contract. He brings a dimension ... that’s important for teams. We want to see him play.

“You don’t get to see these guys play in the preseason games, but we’re going to try to do our best to see as much as we can in a short period of time with players like Nolan.”

Nolan, a left winger, is 6 foot 3, 219 pounds and plays a physical, agitating game, a style matched by few Penguins forwards.

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