NHL waivers is busy today, with three players available to the rest of the league. Austin Czarnik of the Calgary Flames, Eric Comrie of the Detroit Red Wings and Stefan Noesen of the Pittsburgh Penguins are all on waivers, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.
If claimed, it would be the fourth organization of the season for Comrie, who was already claimed off waivers once this year. Starting with the Winnipeg Jets, he was nabbed by the Arizona Coyotes before being traded to Detroit when Jimmy Howard went down to injury. Now that Howard is nearing a return, the Red Wings don’t have room for Comrie on the roster and will have to hope they can sneak him through waivers.
Noesen was only signed by the Penguins earlier this month, meaning it is unlikely he’ll be grabbed by another team at this point. The 26-year old forward was lighting it up in the AHL when he inked his deal with Pittsburgh, but is still no more than a depth forward at the NHL level. In six games this season he has just one point.
Czarnik however is a different story from the other two. The 27-year old signed a two-year, $2.5MM deal with Calgary in 2018 after a dominant season in the AHL with the Providence Bruins and ended up playing 54 games for them in 2018-19. While he had just 18 points, there was enough success to believe he would be a regular in the bottom-six this season. That plan was derailed by an injury, meaning Czarnik has only played in eight games with the Flames and three in the AHL on a conditioning loan.
While the Flames have other options, a claim on Czarnik is a real possibility from elsewhere. For a team looking for a little more wing depth he is more than capable and at this point in the season isn’t breaking the bank even with his $1.25MM cap hit.