Highlights from the waiver wire: 10/9/16 edition
7 years ago
Ten more players were placed on waivers on Sunday, including a pair of established NHL forwards.
We had our first claim of the pre-season waiver period today, with the Carolina Hurricanes claiming Martin Frk off waivers from Detroit. Frk is one of several young players to hit waivers this week, and the decisive factor may have been the Red Wings well-known reputation for keeping NHL-ready players in the minors.
Bob McKenzie posted today’s full list, which features a mix of mostly boring names and relatively famous veterans:
The following players stand out:
- G Richard Bachman. The
29-year-old Bachman is coming off a tough AHL campaign (17-12-5, 0.900 sv%)
with Vancouver’s farm team in which he was outperformed by Joe Cannata. It may
be a one-off; he was a very good third-string goalie for the Oilers for a few
years. - C Zac Dalpe. A
right-shooting pivot, Dalpe has some value as a two-way player who can handle
defensive minutes. However, he played just 10 games last season and even if he’s
totally healthy this year he isn’t likely to be more than a fourth-liner. - C Byron Froese. A
25-year-old minor-league vet, Froese earned a job in Toronto last season after
scoring at a near-point-per-game level in the AHL. The Leafs used him as a
defensive specialist, running him out in heavy minutes on the penalty kill and
using him to take defensive zone draws at 5-on-5. He ended up scoring just five
points in 56 major-league games in that assignment. - LW Colin Greening. Greening
had 15 points in 30 games for Toronto last season and has averaged 29 points
per 82 games played over a 286-game NHL career. He’s big, physical, and
defensively responsible. If he were making $750,000 I don’t think there’s any
question he’d be claimed; the problem is that he comes with a $2.65 million cap hit. - C Brooks Laich. Like
Greening, Laich is a big, expensive forward who can contribute in multiple
ways. He has one year left on a deal with a $4.5 million cap hit
which will probably get him through waivers, but he can kill penalties and
scores at a reasonable bottom-six rate even in the twilight of his NHL career. - C Jordan Weal. I’ve
been a fan of Weal going back to his draft year, when he put up 102 points in
the WHL. He’s an undersized scorer who has evolved into a point-per-game player
at the AHL level. He’s 24 years old and shoots right; the question now is
whether he can translate his minor-league scoring to the majors if given an
opportunity.
None of today’s waiver wire options are especially
compelling. Laich and Greening are both decent bottom-six players who are
simply too expensive to claim, while Froese’s interesting but lacks upside.
Weal is the one player on this list who might be worth a shot; supposedly multiple
teams put in claims on Frk yesterday and Weal checks off some of the same
boxes.
compelling. Laich and Greening are both decent bottom-six players who are
simply too expensive to claim, while Froese’s interesting but lacks upside.
Weal is the one player on this list who might be worth a shot; supposedly multiple
teams put in claims on Frk yesterday and Weal checks off some of the same
boxes.
RECENTLY BY JONATHAN WILLIS
Recent articles from Jonathan Willis
