Saturday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that all of the below players clear waivers, paving the way for them to be sent to the minors.
Friday: The march to the regular season continues, this time with another dozen names hitting the waiver wire. Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star provides the full list:
Sonny Milano (ANA)
Brandon Davidson (BUF)
Dennis Gilbert (COL)
Jayson Megna (COL)
Andreas Borgman (DAL)
Dan Renouf (DET)
Luke Witkowski (DET)
Chase De Leo (NJD)
Michael Chaput (PIT)
Juuso Riikola (PIT)
Nicolas Meloche (SJS)
Sheldon Dries (VAN)
There are several names on this list who once carried quite a bit of hype and potential, but the most interesting among them may be Milano and Riikola. The former is set to carry a cap hit of $1.7MM for this season, while the latter has a cap hit of $1.15MM. At one point, they were expected to be key parts of their respective NHL teams but now appear to be on their way to becoming well-compensated minor leaguers.
Milano in particular is notable because the Ducks don’t need any additional cap space. The team appears to have simply decided that there are other, better options up front for the start of the year. One thing to remember when it comes to waivers is that sometimes, a player clearing actually increases his trade value. That would allow an acquiring team to assign the player directly to the minor leagues, burying up to $1.125MM in cap hits.
I imagine the Habs might be interested in Riikola with the injury to Edmundson.
I’ve really never quite understood why the Pens haven’t used Riikola more. He’s certainly showed more potential than some of the other defensemen they’ve used instead. Maybe it’s a consistency issue, I don’t know. In any event I’d hate to see the Pens lose him, but if he ends up with a better opportunity then good for him.
For some reason Riikola seems to be in Sully’s doghouse. I hope someone picks him up, he’s just collecting rust, but I feel would do well getting some playing time elsewhere.