The summer of 2017 was not kind to Brandon Pirri. Then 26, Pirri had just played a career-high 60 games with the New York Rangers. But after scoring just eight goals, he knew the team wouldn't want him back. It was already his third NHL team in as many seasons, and fourth since he debuted for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010.
"It was a stressful time for me," he said. "I was an unrestricted free agent. Guys work so hard to become unrestricted free agents, that's usually their payday. For me, I was battling for my job.