It’s not a regular occurrence to see someone on waivers at this time of the season but that’s the case with Tampa Bay center Gabriel Dumont who hit the wire today, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The move is required as the 26 year old has been up with the team for more than a month since last clearing waivers on trade deadline day.
Assuming he clears again this time around, Dumont will be eligible to participate for their farm team, the Syracuse Crunch, in the upcoming AHL playoffs. He’s only the second player to go on waivers since the trade deadline, the other being Vancouver’s Drew Shore, who needed waivers in order to join the team last month.
This season, Dumont played in a career high 38 games with the Lightning, collecting two goals and two assists along with 29 penalty minutes while averaging 9:35 of ice time per contest. He has been a more productive player at the minor league level, picking up five goals and five helpers in just 19 games. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Elsewhere around the league:
- The Panthers are likely to interview University of Denver head coach Jim Montgomery and San Diego (AHL) bench boss Dallas Eakins for their soon-to-be-vacated coaching job, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (video link). Montgomery led the Pioneers to the NCAA title last night and has a 102-47-18 record over four years at the school and was named Coach of the Year this season. However, he has never coached at the professional level. As for Eakins, he coached parts of two seasons with the Oilers where his teams struggled to a 36-63-14 mark. He has had more success in the AHL though, posting a .589 points percentage over six seasons.
- Although goaltender Peter Budaj didn’t see much action after being acquired by Tampa Bay as part of the Ben Bishop trade leading up to the trade deadline, he noted to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times that he would be interested in signing a new deal with the team this offseason. Budaj played in only seven games after the trade but was instrumental in keeping the Kings afloat when Jonathan Quick went down early in the season. On the year, he has played in a career high 60 games, posting a strong 2.18 GAA with a .915 SV% and should be able to land a guaranteed NHL spot for next season in free agency this summer after opening 2016-17 as a third stringer.