- Penguins sign defenseman Tomas Galvas to a three-year entry-level contract
- Galvas went undrafted twice before Pittsburgh took him 54th overall in 2026
- Read below for the contract terms and what scouts say about his skating
Tomas Galvas went undrafted twice. Now he has an NHL contract.
The Penguins announced Thursday that the 20-year-old defenseman signed a three-year, entry-level deal. Pittsburgh took Galvas 54th overall at last month’s draft, the club’s third pick of the weekend after twin forwards Liam and Markus Ruck.
PuckPedia laid out the numbers on the deal:
It comes with a $1.0075 million cap hit. Galvas earns $850,000 at the NHL level in year one, climbing to $950,000 by year three, with $87,500 waiting for him in the minors each season.
Galvas spent last season with Bili Tygri Liberec of the Czech Extraliga, the top pro league in Czechia. He put up eight goals and 16 assists in 32 games, then added an assist across seven playoff contests.
International play brought out his best. Galvas piled up three goals and six assists in seven games at the 2026 World Juniors, and Czechia skated away with silver.
Scouts keep coming back to his feet. Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis, who ranked Galvas the sixth-best re-entry prospect in the class, broke down what separates him.
“Galvas is as good a skater as you’ll find in this class, using his quick footwork to pivot on a dime,” Ellis wrote. “He also makes quick, accurate backhand passes that seem to throw off opponents quite frequently.”
Size is the knock. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 168 pounds, Galvas sat through both the 2024 and 2025 drafts before re-entering this summer. Ellis had him 82nd on his final board, and Elite Prospects left him out of the top 50 European skaters entirely.
Pittsburgh is betting the skating wins out. The Penguins have three years to find out whether a twice-passed-over defenseman was worth a second-round swing.
