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Minnesota Wild Place Alex Stalock On Waivers

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The Minnesota Wild have placed goaltender Alex Stalock on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. The 33-year-old veteran led the Wild in wins and starts last season, but has yet to make an NHL appearance this year.

Stalock, who took over as the Wild’s starter last year after a disappointing season by long-time starter Devan Dubnyk, has been out since the beginning of the season due to an upper-body injury. Stalock was coming off a season in which he posted 20 wins, a 2.67 GAA and a .910 save percentage last year in 38 games. He also played in all four postseason games in the bubble last year, but didn’t fare as well, going 1-3 with a 3.03 GAA and a .897 save percentage.

The Wild then changed up their goaltending during the offseason, trading Dubnyk to San Jose and signing Cam Talbot as a free agent. The team also had last year’s AHL Goaltender of the Year Kaapo Kahkonen, leaving Stalock’s status on the team shaky already. Both Talbot and Kahkonen have played extremely well with Minnesota this year. Talbot has a 2.19 GAA and a .926 save percentage in seven appearances, while Kahkonen has 2.41 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 12 games.

That leaves Stalock, who is finally healthy and ready to come off injured reserve, as the odd man out and a serious candidate to be claimed by other teams in need of a veteran goaltender. On top of all that, Stalock is quite inexpensive as he is earning just $725K this year, just his second year in a three-year, $2.36MM deal he signed back in 2019.

With several teams in need of goaltending help, it would seem improbable that the Wild can slip him through to assign him to the taxi squad. One interesting fact is the team could have assigned him to the AHL for a conditioning stint first, but opted not to do that, perhaps hoping that Stalock, who hasn’t appeared in a game since the playoff bubble in August, might not be ready to jump into a game for any time right away, thereby dissuading teams to claim him.

However, there are plenty of teams in desperate need of help in goal (especially veteran help), with many people pointing to the Buffalo Sabres, who just lost Linus Ullmark for a month due to injury, who would be strong candidates to take a chance on him.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo was the first to report that Stalock was going to be put on waivers.

Bruins Claim Jarred Tinordi Off Waivers From Predators

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The Bruins have added some depth to their back end as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed defenseman Jarred Tinordi off waivers from Nashville.

The 29-year-old has played in seven games this season with the Predators, logging a respectable 16:34 per night of ice time.  However, he was pushed out of his spot by Ben Harpur and while Nashville thought they’d be able to sneak him onto the taxi squad considering he has cleared waivers four other times in his career, clearly that wasn’t the case.

Tinordi was a first-round pick of Montreal (22nd overall) back in 2010 but never was able to carve out a regular role for himself and was eventually traded to Arizona in 2016 as part of the move that saw John Scott get traded after being voted in as an All-Star starter.  He played seven games with the Coyotes that season before spending three full seasons in the minors.  However, injuries forced Nashville to recall Tinordi last year and he did well enough to play in 28 games with them (plus four more in the bubble) and see early action this season.

With Boston, Tinordi provides some extra insurance on the left side of their back end with Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon both on injured reserve at an affordable price.  He’s in the second and final season of his contract that carries a league-minimum salary of $700K in the NHL and $300K in the minors although he will have to go through waivers again if the Bruins try to send him down once those injured players return.

Stefan Noesen Clears Waivers

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Saturday: While Tinordi was claimed by Boston, Noesen cleared waivers, Friedman reports.  Kevin Kurz of The Athletic adds that Noesen has been sent to the taxi squad for the time being although he is likely to see some time in the AHL at some point to get some game action.

Friday: According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Stefan Noesen of the San Jose Sharks and Jarred Tinordi of the Nashville Predators have been placed on waivers today.

Noesen, 28, was actually claimed off waivers by the Sharks last season, but re-signed to a one-year, $925K contract after impressing down the stretch. That hasn’t been the case this time around, as Noesen has zero points in five games on the season and is basically out of the rotation. By waiving him, the veteran forward can be placed on the taxi squad or sent to the minor leagues.

Tinordi meanwhile has cleared waivers many times in the past, but keeps receiving more opportunities with the Predators. The 29-year-old, 6’6″ defenseman has five points in 35 games over the past two seasons. He has been replaced of late by another hulking defenseman, 26-year-old Ben Harpur who has played in each of the last three games. Tinordi could end up on the taxi squad, or perhaps return to the AHL where he played 32 games last season.

Filip Chlapik Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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Feb 26: Chlapik has cleared waivers. His contract was terminated today; Senators GM Pierre Dorion released a short statement on the move:

After considerable dialogue with Filip and his representation, we have mutually decided to part ways. We’re appreciative of Filip’s efforts with the organization, both in Belleville and in Ottawa, and wish him the best as he moves forward.

Feb 25: CapFriendly reports that Chlapik is actually on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination. It was curious why the team would put him on waivers despite being in the minor leagues, which this answers. Chlapik will become an unrestricted free agent should the termination go through.

11:05am: According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the Ottawa Senators have placed Filip Chlapik on waivers once again, after he cleared at the beginning of the season. The young forward has played just one game at the NHL level this year.

Will the floodgates open now that a skater (Mark Friedman) has been claimed off waivers? Chlapik is not like many of the other players that hit waivers, given he is still just 23 years old. The 6’2″ forward was the 48th overall pick in 2015 but has just 57 games under his belt at the NHL level.

In all likelihood, he’ll pass through, but if a team is dealing with injuries and wants to take a chance on the young forward, they have another chance. Chlapik’s two-way deal costs just $735K this season while in the NHL and he’ll be a restricted free agent again this offseason.

Pittsburgh Penguins Claim Mark Friedman

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We finally have some skater movement on waivers. Today, the Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed defenseman Mark Friedman from the Philadelphia Flyers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The easy connection to make here is straight from Friedman (the player) to Ron Hextall, who recently took over as Penguins GM. It was Hextall who drafted Friedman 86th overall in 2014 just a month after he was promoted to Flyers GM. It was also Hextall who would have seen Friedman at his best, a dominant all-situations force for the Bowling Green State University team.

The 25-year-old defenseman hasn’t made that kind of impact in the NHL yet, playing just 11 games to this point. Just four of those have come this season, but perhaps he’ll receive a bigger opportunity once he gets to Pittsburgh. The Penguins have dealt with injuries to their defense corps all season and still have two regulars on long-term injured reserve. Defense, in particular, will be an interesting test of Hextall’s new philosophy with the Penguins, given they had previously been invested in reclamation projects like Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci.

Friedman becomes the first skater to be claimed off waivers since before the season started. The other three players on waivers with him yesterday—Tanner Kero, Tommy Cross and Luke Schenn—all cleared.

Four Players Placed On Waivers

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Feb 24: Friedman has been claimed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The other three have cleared and can now be assigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

Feb 23: The Philadelphia Flyers have placed Mark Friedman on waivers, a move that would allow them to send him to the taxi squad or minor leagues. The Flyers are expected to get several players back from the COVID Protocol list in the coming days, including Claude Giroux today as he re-joined the team for practice.

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, three other players–Tanner Kero, Tommy Cross and Luke Schenn–have also been placed on waivers today.

Friedman (the player, not the scribe), has played in four games for the Flyers this season, including their outdoor match at Lake Tahoe. He was forced to play both forward and defense in that game thanks to the large number of regulars out of the lineup, but that just shows how far down he is on the defensive depth chart at this point. His placement on waivers shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given how easily players have passed through this season.

Kero is much of the same story, having already cleared waivers earlier this year. The 28-year-old center has played in nine games and has two points, but usually shuffles between the active roster and taxi squad for the Dallas Stars and isn’t expected to be claimed. Kero has two points and 24 total in his 81-game NHL career. Cross meanwhile has just three games under his belt at the NHL level and none since the 2015-16 season. The 31-year-old put up 21 points in 50 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season.

It’s Schenn that is the interesting name here, even if he too is unlikely to be claimed. The 31-year-old defenseman has nearly 800 games of NHL experience and a recent Stanley Cup on his resume with the Tampa Bay Lightning. For just an $800K salary that’s a ton of experience that could be useful to a banged-up team. In 14 games this season Schenn has just one point, but that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. He has just 149 points in his long career and hasn’t scored more than 16 since the 2011-12 season.

Detroit’s Frans Nielsen Clears Waivers

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Feb 22: Nielsen has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

Feb 21: The Detroit Red Wings have put yet another veteran up for grabs. According to multiple sources, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Frans Nielsen is the latest name to be placed on waivers. Teams will have 24 hours to put a claim in on the 36-year-old center if they so choose. No other players have been placed on waivers today and the Anaheim Ducks’ Adam Henrique has cleared from yesterday.

Nielsen’s time on the waiver wire should go the same way it has for every skater so far this season; don’t expect him to be claimed. Yes, the flat salary cap and the league-wide crunch have influenced both waiver placements and the lack of claims so far this year, but Nielsen is different. He is coming off a career-worst season in 2019-20 and by a wide margin. Even for a historically bad Red Wings team, there was no excuse for producing nine points and a -13 rating in 60 games for a player who had totaled 33 points or more (sometimes much more) in every full season of his NHL career and received Selke Trophy votes for seven consecutive seasons earlier in his career. Nielsen’s game has fallen off tremendously and his start to the current campaign has provided no proof to the contrary. The veteran forward has three points in 18 games and is seeing a career-low in ice time.

It also doesn’t help that Nielsen’s current AAV is a whopping (relative to his production) $5.25MM and his contract extends through the 2021-22 season. If a 31-year-old Henrique, still producing at the same high level he has over his whole career, can go unclaimed at a $5.825MM AAV on a multi-year deal, it is extremely difficult to see someone taking a year and a half of a 36-year-old Nielsen who has recorded 18 points in his last 100 games dating back to the latter half of the 2018-19 season.

Detroit has waived other notable players this season like Danny DeKeyser and Alex Biega, but they have still remained involved with the team. The same goes for many other veterans around the league who have been waived to gain taxi squad flexibility but are still active participants. However, if this is the end of Nielsen as a regular in the NHL, he will be remembered for his two-way ability and consistency in all areas of his game. Unfortunately, most if not all of his best seasons and top accomplishments were in a New York Islanders jersey and his time with Detroit on a six-year, $31.5MM contract will largely be regarded as a failure.

Ducks’ Adam Henrique Clears Waivers

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Sunday: Henrique has cleared waivers. Despite a career of consistent scoring and quality two-way play, it seems that teams were too frightened by Henrique’s lengthy contract and slow start to the season to risk a claim. This may not be over though; it is hard to imagine that there are not teams in the NHL that could benefit from the dynamic Duck’s services if they can make the salary cap work in a trade.

Saturday: There have been some notable veterans placed on waivers in recent days and Saturday has yielded another of those moves as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Ducks have placed center Adam Henrique on waivers.  While it’s not common for a GM to comment on a player hitting the waiver wire right away, Bob Murray did release a brief statement to Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register:

Adam is not alone in this. But I’m tired of talking and waiting. We need results and difficult decisions must be made.

It has been a tough year for the 31-year-old, to put it lightly.  Henrique has just three goals and an assist in 16 games this season despite logging over 16 minutes per game and nearly two per night with the man advantage.  For someone that’s expected to be a top-six forward, that type of production hasn’t been good enough which has resulted in this move.  The drop-off offensively comes as somewhat of a surprise considering that Henrique actually led Anaheim in scoring last season with 26 goals and 17 assists in 71 games; had it not been for the pandemic, he would have had a realistic chance at reaching the 30-goal mark for only the second time in his career.

Henrique still has three years left on his contract after this season with a $5.825MM AAV and salary and with many teams being capped out (only five teams can afford to claim him), it’s quite unlikely that he’ll be claimed on Sunday.  Instead, the placement will give them a bit more roster flexibility and allow them to shuffle him to the taxi squad on non-game days, allowing them to temporarily clear $1.075MM off their salary cap.  It could also serve as somewhat of a wakeup call to Henrique and the rest of the Ducks who are off to a bit of a sluggish start to their season having won only six of 17 games so far, though that’s still enough to be just two points out of a playoff spot in the West Division.

Matt Tennyson Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Tennyson has cleared waivers, Johnston reports. New Jersey quickly moved him to the taxi squad, while assigning Nicholas Merkley to the AHL.

Friday: Off the COVID Protocol and onto the wire, Matt Tennyson has been placed on waivers by the New Jersey Devils according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. The team also put Eric Comrie and Connor Carrick there in recent days, losing the former back to his old team. Tennyson already did clear earlier in the season, but needed to go through the process again if the Devils wanted to assign him to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

With Sami Vatanen, Dmitry Kulikov, and Will Butcher all assuming their spots on the active roster, it was always going to be a tough squeeze for Tennyson. The 30-year-old served as a filler through ten games this season but was regularly caved in possession-wise, just as he has been for most of his career. Undrafted, Tennyson used his three years at Western Michigan University to build up his profile before hitting the professional ranks. He’s turned in quite a nice little career, spending 154 games in an NHL lineup.

Still, it seems unlikely that he will be claimed (if for no other reason than waiver claims are extremely rare these days.) More likely is he clears tomorrow and returns to the practice squad, where he can continue to serve as injury insurance for the Devils. Even there he might not be the first up, as Carrick cleared and could be used whenever the team needs a body.

Winnipeg Jets Claim Eric Comrie

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The Winnipeg Jets just won’t let Eric Comrie go. According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the team has claimed the goaltender off waivers once again, bringing him back to the organization where he has played most of his career. Comrie ended up playing just one game with the New Jersey Devils after being claimed by them earlier this season, posting a .909 save percentage in the process.

If the Jets were the only team to put in a claim, they can now move Comrie directly to the taxi squad or minor leagues. If not, he’ll have to stay on the active roster until he does clear (Update: The Jets have indeed assigned him to the taxi squad). Of course, in either case, Comrie will have to face a quarantine as he returns to Canada. It’s not the first time he’s dealt with this merry-go-round waiver situation, as he was claimed, traded, and then claimed again last season. All the while he has only played in nine career NHL games, but the 25-year-old continues to post strong numbers at the minor league level and obviously has interest from around the NHL.

For Winnipeg, the question now becomes whether the waive a different goaltender. The team is currently carrying three on the active roster, with Connor Hellebuyck backed up by both Laurent Brossoit and Anton Forsberg. Forsberg was a waiver claim himself after the Jets lost Comrie, meaning he might end up back on the wire in the coming days.

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