The Detroit Red Wings have reclaimed right winger Martin Frk off of waivers from Carolina, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link). Bob Duff of the Windsor Star adds via Twitter that Frk has been assigned to Grand Rapids of the AHL.
Frk, originally drafted by the Wings in the second round (49th overall) in 2012, has spent the bulk of his professional career at the minor league level. Last season was his first full season at the AHL level after splitting the previous two campaigns between Grand Rapids and Toledo of the ECHL. In 2015-16, he played in 67 games for the AHL’s Griffins, scoring 27 goals while adding 17 assists.
The Wings waived Frk last month but the Hurricanes scooped him off the wire and were one of three teams in total to place a claim according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie (Twitter link). However, Carolina rarely used the 23 year old as he has played in just two games so far this season, being held pointless with a -3 rating while averaging just 8:20 of ice time per game.
Because no other team placed a claim on Frk, Detroit was be able to send him down. Had another team put in a claim, the Red Wings would have been forced to keep him on their NHL roster or re-waive him to attempt to send him to the AHL.
[Related: Red Wings Depth Chart]
Meanwhile for Carolina, with Frk now off the roster, the team has activated defenseman Ryan Murphy off of injured reserve. Murphy suffered a lower body injury in the preseason and has not yet suited up for the Hurricanes this season.