Saturday: Pietila has cleared waivers, reports NHL.com’s Mike Morreale (Twitter link). He will remain with the Devils, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, Walcott is listed as being assigned to Syracuse (AHL) per the AHL’s Transactions Page which means he has also passed through unclaimed.
Friday: You don’t often see waivers at this time of the year, but today two players have been designated. According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, Blake Pietila of the New Jersey Devils and Daniel Walcott of the Tampa Bay Lightning have both been placed on waivers. Walcott has not played at all this season as he dealt with a major shoulder injury, while Pietila could now join the Binghamton Devils.
It’s actually great news for Walcott, who is likely healthy enough to contribute for the Syracuse Crunch. The 25-year old defenseman has played the last three seasons with the team and will be joining them as they battle for first place in the entire AHL. He has spent the entire year so far on season-opening injured reserve, and would have required waivers to go down at any time.
For Pietila though this comes after 19 mostly uneventful games with the Devils. The 26-year old forward has just a single point with the team this year and now just four total through his 38-game NHL career. Despite scoring at the college and AHL level, Pietila doesn’t seem to have what it takes to produce in the NHL. He will however help Binghamton if sent there, though they are well out of the playoff race this season.
Pietila and Lappin have shown nothing. Devils need to sell on Lappin ASAP for his goal scoring ability in the minors because it doesn’t translate to a system like NJ. Would be better off with Arizona, Anaheim, or Winnipeg in a bottom six role where he would see more open ice and less board battling.
Even then, he’s not that good.
Pietila just exists and sucks. He can penalty kill I guess but he’s a career minor leaguer until he can play-make better and increase his unpredictability with the puck. Needs to learn some more dekes.
Noesen is what he is and the team should move on.
Devils should keep Agostino and Rooney together on a fourth line. Chemistry is there. Bastian would make a nice compliment on that line for next season