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Flames Place Walker Duehr On Waivers

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January 18th: Duehr has cleared waivers and been assigned to the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL.

January 17th: The Flames placed winger Walker Duehr on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Calgary on Wednesday, TSN’s Chris Johnston reports.

Duehr, 26, played in 12 straight games to start the season but has seen minimal action since, playing in only 10 of Calgary’s last 35 games. An undrafted free agent signing out of Minnesota State in the spring of 2021, the bottom-six grinder posted 1-3–4 in 19 games this year while averaging only 7:58 per game before landing on the waiver wire.

Away from the puck, Duehr’s performance this year took a sizable step back from his 27-game stint in the Flames lineup in 2022-23. His 46.2% Corsi share at even strength is the worst on the team despite seeing minutes against easier competition, and his minutes on special teams this year are negligible.

Duehr is signed to a one-way deal that runs through next season, so the likelihood of him getting claimed is low. He signed a two-year extension worth $1.65MM last April after spending a decent chunk of the campaign on the Calgary roster, making the team out of camp this year as a result.

In 41 games with AHL Calgary last season, Duehr recorded 11-15–26 with a +5 rating. His middling offensive production in the minors suggests he won’t likely ever be a top-nine threat at the NHL level, but he has shown some skills that suggest he can be an effective fourth-liner in the future. This season, however, it hasn’t come to fruition, and he’ll return to the minors (if he clears) to round out his all-around game.

Pittsburgh Penguins Place Radim Zohorna On Waivers, Recall Ryan Shea

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Jan. 17: Zohorna cleared waivers and can be assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the Penguins’ discretion, TSN’s Chris Johnston reports. In a corresponding transaction, the team summoned defenseman Ryan Shea after sending him to the minors last week.

Jan. 16: The Pittsburgh Penguins are placing depth forward, Radim Zohorna, on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. If Zohorna does clear and is reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, it will mark Zohorna’s first time back in the AHL since late October of this season.

Towards the beginning of the year, Zohorna was originally recalled by Pittsburgh to improve a bottom-six that had struggled out of the gate. Zohorna got off to a strong start, scoring three goals and six points in 13 games between October 21st and November 19th. Unfortunately, since then, Zohorna has seen his production crater, as he has only been able to muster one goal in his next 18 games for the Penguins, seeing his average ice time drop by approximately three minutes.

In the meantime, with Pittsburgh’s recent recall of Colin White on Saturday, the team may be more comfortable with giving White an opportunity on the team’s third or fourth line. White had originally spent the first few months of the season in the AHL, scoring five goals and 10 points in 21 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Now returning to the AHL, Zohorna will return to a very familiar setting in eastern Pennsylvania. Although he has only played in two games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season, Zohorna is a veteran of 53 games for Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate since 2020-21, scoring 15 goals and 32 points over that stretch.

Anaheim Ducks Claim Gustav Lindstrom Off Waivers

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Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that the Anaheim Ducks have claimed defenseman Gustav Lindstrom off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens. Lindstrom was originally acquired by the Canadiens from the Detroit Red Wings along with a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for defenseman Jeff Petry. The trade happened towards the end of last summer after Petry had been moved to Montreal by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 25-year-old Lindstrom was drafted by Detroit 38th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft and emerged as an NHL option during the 2019-2020 season as he posted one assist in a 16-game NHL audition. The following year during the pandemic-shorted season, Lindstrom dressed in just 13 NHL games and put up three points, while struggling with turnovers and defensive miscues.

The turnovers became a theme in Lindstrom’s play during his first full NHL season in 2021-22 when Lindstrom dressed in 63 games and averaged over 16 minutes of ice time per game. Lindstrom did emerge as a talented shot blocker and a physical option on the back end, but his sloppy play with the puck became a problem for the young defender.

This year with Montreal, Lindstrom has played in 13 games and has a career-high three goals and an assist. Despite his goal-scoring, Lindstrom has not played for Montreal since December 9th and was expected to be sent to the Laval Rocket of the AHL if he cleared waivers.

With the waiver claim, the Ducks will have a free look at a talented, albeit flawed, young defenseman.

Colorado Avalanche Place Chris Wagner On Waivers

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Jan. 11: Wagner has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the Eagles, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.

Jan. 10: Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that the Colorado Avalanche have placed forward Chris Wagner on waivers today, which would suggest that the 32-year-old is fully recovered from a ruptured Achilles and is ready to be assigned to the AHL. Wagner suffered the injury before training camp and has missed the entire season thus far. He was signed by the Avalanche in the offseason after spending the past five years in the Boston Bruins organization.

Wagner was an NHL regular from 2016-21 and dressed in 360 games during that stretch, with his best season coming in 2018-19, when he had 12 goals and seven assists in 76 games. Over the course of his nine-year NHL career, Wagner has 37 goals and 26 assists.

Wagner has played just two NHL games since 2021 and has spent the majority of the last three seasons in the AHL. He has dressed in 62 AHL games in each of the last two seasons, tallying 27 points in 2021-22 and 31 points last year.

If he is able to clear, he will likely join Colorado’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. While it is likely he will clear, given his recent injury situation, it is far from a sure thing as many teams are starting to deal with injury issues and could be looking for players to fill out their forward group for the rest of the season.

Canadiens Place Gustav Lindstrom On Waivers

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The Montreal Canadiens have placed defenseman Gustav Lindstrom on waivers. The 25-year-old has appeared in 14 games with Montreal this season, scoring three goals and four points while averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time. He is one of eight defenders currently on Montreal’s roster, sharing the role of extra defenseman with Johnathan Kovacevic.

Lindstrom is in his fifth NHL season, making his debut with the  Red Wings during the 2019-20 season – the same year he came over from Sweden’s Frolunda HC. Detroit selected Lindstrom with the 38th-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, just one pick before the Dallas Stars selected Jason Robertson, who has become an emphatic scorer with 118 goals and 274 points in 249 career games. He moved to the Canadiens organization in mid-August, joining the team alongside a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for Jeff Petry, who has since gone on to record 11 points and a +2 in 31 games with the Red Wings.

Lindstrom has been out of the Canadiens lineup since December 9th, when he recorded a -1 and one penalty in a shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres. The defenseman cleared waivers on October 8th, starting the season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket before he was brought up as an emergency recall in late October. He spent one more week in the minors in early November before sticking around the Canadiens lineup for the last two months. Lindstrom has played in four AHL games this year, going without a point but recording one penalty and a -6. He will likely look to add to those stats if he clears waivers once again.

Calgary Flames Kevin Rooney Clears Waivers

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1/9: Rooney has cleared waivers and is awaiting assignment.

1/8: The Calgary Flames have placed forward Kevin Rooney on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The move is a precursor to Rooney getting activated off of long-term injured reserve, as should he clear waivers the Flames would be able to activate him and assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers.

In addition to this move, Sportsnet 960’s Patt Steinberg reports that forward Jakob Pelletier has been activated off of season-opening injured reserve and been assigned to the Wranglers. Pelletier is recovering from shoulder surgery, and now he can get into some AHL practices as part of that recovery. Long-term, the expectation is likely that Pelletier will return to the NHL level as that is where he scored seven points in 24 games last season.

As for Rooney, the six-foot-two veteran pivot was originally signed by the Flames to a $1.3MM AAV contract in order to serve as their fourth-line center. He’d filled that role admirably for the New York Rangers for the prior two seasons, and was fresh off of a run with the club to the Eastern Conference Final.

Rooney struggled in Calgary, and only played in 17 NHL games last season compared to 51 in the AHL. Now likely to be a Wrangler once again, the Flames will be tagged with $150k against the cap from Rooney’s deal as $1.15MM of the full $1.3MM total is considered “buried” when Rooney is on the AHL roster.

Blackhawks Claim Zach Sanford Off Waivers From Coyotes

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As the injury bug continues to strike, the Blackhawks have turned to the waiver wire.  As first reported by PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link), Chicago has claimed forward Zach Sanford off waivers from Arizona.

The 29-year-old was waived by Arizona on Friday.  He has played in 11 games since being recalled in December, picking up a pair of points along with eight blocks and four hits while logging a little over nine minutes a night on the fourth line.

Sanford is a veteran of over 300 career NHL games but has bounced around a lot lately, spending time with St. Louis, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Nashville, and Arizona since 2021.  At his best, he was a capable third-line power forward but in recent seasons, he has settled in as a recallable veteran when needed.  Sanford has spent most of this season with AHL Tucson after inking a one-year, two-way deal with the Coyotes over the summer, picking up a goal and three assists in 16 games.

While on the surface, this might seem like a puzzling claim for a rebuilding team to make, Chicago now has eight forwards on injured reserve.  After making several recalls from AHL Rockford, they also picked up Rem Pitlick in a trade from Pittsburgh earlier today and are now adding Sanford merely to get to 12 healthy forwards on the active roster.  It stands to reason that Sanford could be back on the wire once some of these players come back but for now, his stay in the NHL will last at least a little while longer.

Zach Sanford Placed On Waivers

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The Arizona Coyotes have placed forward Zach Sanford on waivers, according to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan.

The 29-year-old veteran winger played in has played in 316 career NHL games. He won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues and has a career-high of 16 goals and 30 points. He’s bounced around a bit over the last few years, and is now set to be available to all 31 other teams, at just an $800k cap hit.

Sanford was originally recalled in December and skated in 11 games for the Coyotes, including yesterday’s loss ot the New York Islanders. He has played in a fourth-line capacity, and has scored two points to go alongside eight blocked shots and four hits. He has averaged 9:15 time-on-ice per game this season, but has not skated on any special teams units.

Now, with today’s waiver placement, he’ll be available in case any other NHL team needs a plug-and-play winger who can handle fourth-line minutes in the NHL.

Blackhawks Claim Jaycob Megna Off Waivers

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The Chicago Blackhawks have claimed defenseman Jaycob Megna off waivers from the Seattle Kraken. Megna has served as Seattle’s seventh defenseman since being recalled on December 12th, though his only playing time this season has been through an AHL conditioning stint that saw Megna play two games, score one goal, and record a +3 rating. Seattle traded for Megna at last season’s trade deadline, sending a fourth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks that was used to select defenseman Luca Cagnoni.

Chicago will become the sixth NHL organization that Megna has been a part of, though he’s only played NHL games for three teams – serving out minor league deals with the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. Megna’s career kicked off with the Anaheim Ducks, who took him with the second-to-last pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. He turned pro quickly, making his AHL at the end of the 2013-14 season. He spent the next four seasons in the minor leagues, capping the stretch off with 27 points scored across 62 games – a mark that remains the most Megna has scored in any league since juniors. Megna played his rookie NHL season two years later, scoring four points and recording 12 penalty minutes across 28 games.

Megna wouldn’t appear in the NHL again until he earned a strong role with the San Jose Sharks for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, playing in 44 and 48 games, respectively. Megna set an NHL career-high of 12 points in the latter season, adding 21 penalty minutes and a +6. He now joins a Blackhawks team that’s depleted of a lot of depth. He’ll look to carve out a role in competition with Louis Crevier and Jarred Tinordi.

Kings Recall Brandt Clarke, Place Tobias Bjornfot On Waivers

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The Los Angeles Kings have recalled top defenseman prospect Brandt Clarke and placed Tobias Bjornfot on waivers. Bjornfot has split time between the NHL and AHL this season, appearing in nine minor league games and only one game with the Kings. He has yet to score a point through any of the 10 matchups.

L.A. turns to their AHL team’s leading scorer in defenseman Clarke, who is currently in his first full professional season. The 20-year-old has 32 points in 30 AHL games, adding 30 penalty minutes and a +4. He has yet to play in the NHL this season, although he did receive nine NHL games last year before being sent back to the OHL’s Barrie Colts. Clarke recorded two assists in his first taste of the NHL but is still looking for his first career goal.

Clarke may have to wait to slot into the NHL lineup, though. Bjornfot has served as the team’s seventh defenseman, and no Kings defender has missed more than five games this season. It’s a solid blue-line that’s received plenty of impact in all three zones. Still, L.A. is bringing up a difference-maker in Clarke: the eighth overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft.

Wednesday marks a special day for the Clarke family, as Brandt’s brother Graeme Clarke has been recalled by the New Jersey Devils as well. Graeme ranks second on his AHL team in scoring, recording 21 points in 27 games with the Utica Comets. The Clarke parents are currently en route to New Jersey from Ottawa to see Graeme make his expected NHL debut, though they may be prime for another road trip with Brandt now with an NHL team on the other coast.

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