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<p>Two years ago Tom Sestito dealt with uncertainty.</p><p>After spending all of the 2013-14 season in the NHL with Vancouver, the Canucks placed him on waivers early in the following season. Sestito wound up in the AHL with Utica and was ultimately sent home in February.</p><p>All of a sudden, a year after leading the NHL in penalty minutes, Sestito was without a team and possibly a future in hockey.</p><p>Today, the 29-year-old forward has both.</p><p>Sestito has changed quite a bit since he turned pro in 2007. He now has a fiance, a young son, an NHL contract and a place in the Pittsburgh organization.</p><p>The uncertainty of the past is a distant memory.</p><p>&#8220;I held a grudge for a while, but now I could care less. I&#8217;m in a better place now,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;I still have some things to prove to people, but I don&#8217;t reflect on that too much anymore.&#8221;</p><p>Sestito began last season on a professional tryout contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and immediately was sidelined with an injury. When he returned, Sestito became a regular in the Penguins lineup and eventually parlayed his success into an NHL contract for the rest of the season.</p><p>He appeared in four games with Pittsburgh and was a pivotal performer in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton&#8217;s playoff run, with a goal and four points in seven games. It was enough to earn Sestito another one-year NHL deal for this season, which began by making Pittsburgh&#8217;s roster out of training camp and appearing in eight games.</p><p>While Sestito was a healthy scratch on most nights before being assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he isn&#8217;t bothered by the move to the AHL.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been great being in the NHL and being around those guys, but when you&#8217;re not playing it eats at you,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;As a competitor you want to play. I was excited to come down.&#8221;</p><p>In his first three games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Sestito has registered a goal and two points. He has proven he can score in the AHL throughout his career, registering 20 points or more three times while embracing his role as one of the toughest players on the ice.</p><p>Sestito&#8217;s willingness to drop the gloves has been a key component to his game, but he knows if he wants to get back to the NHL he needs to show other facets as well.</p><p>Elements such as chipping in goals, playing at both ends and being relentless on the forecheck.</p><p>Head coach Clark Donatelli has also used Sestito in the past in another area - in front of the net on the power play.</p><p>&#8220;He has good hands and he can score some goals in this league,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;He&#8217;s a big guy and he can skate well.&#8221;</p><p>Perhaps no game encompasses Sestito&#8217;s unique blend of toughness and offense more than Game 3 in the 2015 playoff series against Hershey.</p><p>In the contest, Sestito fought Hershey&#8217;s Liam O&#8217;Brien two seconds into the game and then scored on a breakaway early in the third period to even the score before receiving a game misconduct.</p><p>He finished the night with a goal, a fight and 37 penalty minutes.</p><p>&#8220;That game was high emotions. That&#8217;s exactly what I want to bring,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to be the goon running around. I think I have the hands and skillset to contribute and still be physical as always.&#8221;</p><p>And for now, Sestito doesn&#8217;t mind if he&#8217;s playing that type of game in the AHL, as long as he&#8217;s with the Pittsburgh organization.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been through several organizations and this one is top-notch,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not saying anything bad about the others, but just the way Pittsburgh does it is a step-up in making sure everyone is comfortable.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">After dealing with uncertainty earlier in his career, Tom Sestito is happy to have a home in the Pittsburgh organization, whether that&#8217;s in the NHL or at the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Sestito1A.jpg</photo0><caption0>After dealing with uncertainty earlier in his career, Tom Sestito is happy to have a home in the Pittsburgh organization, whether that&#8217;s in the NHL or at the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Sestito2A.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Now in his second season with the Pittsburgh organization, Tom Sestito has proven to be a contributor both with his physical play and offensively. In four games since returning from Pittsburgh, Sestito has a goal and an assist. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Sestito2A.jpg</photo1><caption1>Now in his second season with the Pittsburgh organization, Tom Sestito has proven to be a contributor both with his physical play and offensively. In four games since returning from Pittsburgh, Sestito has a goal and an assist. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Penguins forward showcasing his versatility</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Counting fights? </strong></p><p>Sestito said he isn&#8217;t concerned about the AHL&#8217;s new fighting rule that imposes a suspension after 10 fighting majors, but he might change some things.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not going to just drop the gloves in a 6-1 game. That&#8217;s maybe something I&#8217;m thinking about,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But if I get 10 or 11 fights and I have to sit, I&#8217;ll sit.&#8221;</p><p>Sestito has topped 10 fighting majors four times in his AHL career, dating back to the 2007-08 season when he turned pro with Syracuse and accumulated 202 penalty minutes. Things were a bit different in hockey back then, he said, and it was a learning lesson.</p><p>&#8220;It was a tougher league and we had a tough team in Syracuse. Our captain, Zenon Konopka, was all about intimidation,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;If a team was going to run up the score we were going to fight. You weren&#8217;t really fighting for the right reasons and I learned that later in my career.&#8221;</p><p>Still, Sestito doesn&#8217;t believe the new rules aimed at limiting fighting are the answer to reducing injuries such as concussions.</p><p>&#8220;When you look at the concussions, it&#8217;s not the fighting but it&#8217;s the hits,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;The fighting helps with guys making those stupid runs if they know they&#8217;re going to pay for it. If they get a five-minute major that&#8217;s one thing, but if they get their face kicked in they&#8217;re going to think about it a little more.&#8221;</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Tom Sestito the making most of return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins