Toronto blueliner Frank Corrado finds himself in a familiar situation this season and as Chris Johnston of Sportsnet writes, it’s not a good one to be in. Last year, the Leafs claimed Corrado off of waivers just prior to the start of the season and then proceeded to keep him in the press box for the better part of two months, save for a brief conditioning stint in the AHL. The justification was that the team thought high enough of him to keep him on the roster and not risk losing him for nothing but that he wasn’t quite good enough to be in the lineup.
Fast forward to this year and history seems to be repeating itself for Corrado, who has been a healthy scratch in four straight games to start the year. Toronto is carrying eight defensemen to start the season and their other scratch – Roman Polak – made his season debut on Thursday, suggesting that Corrado once again sits eighth on the depth chart without much hope of getting into the lineup. The belief remains that if Toronto tried to assign him to the minors, he’d be claimed off of waivers, creating an identical situation to last season.
For the time being, it appears that like last season, it’s going to take an injury or two for Corrado to get into the lineup. Until then, he’ll have to bide his time and wait for a chance which is far from an ideal situation for a 23 year old who has yet to play 50 games in each of the last two years.
More from around the league:
- Today marks the one year anniversary of the Blue Jackets hiring John Tortorella as their new head coach. In that time, the team has played to a 34-35-8 record, notes Puck Rakers’ Tom Reed. Clearly, Columbus was looking for more of an immediate impact from Tortorella behind the bench and as a result, he is one of the coaches who came into the season firmly on the hot seat. The Jackets made a quick coaching change last season and if the team continues to struggle, GM Jarmo Kekalainen may be quick to pull the trigger again this year.
- The agent for Ducks center Rickard Rakell told Eric Stephens of the OC Register that the expectation is that Rakell will be able to report to the team sometime next week. Rakell is in the process of securing a P-1 visa which is required before he can resume skating with Anaheim. In the meantime, Rakell will continue to work out on his own in Sweden while waiting for the visa process to be completed which is expected to be shortly after the weekend.
- Philadelphia right winger Dale Weise has been suspended for three games as a result of an illegal check to the head on Anaheim defenseman Korbinian Holzer on Thursday night, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced. No penalty had been assessed on the hit during the game. Weise becomes the third Flyer to miss time due to suspension already this season, joining Brayden Schenn and Radko Gudas.