Sunday: Elliotte Friedman reported that Pirri cleared. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports that Pirri will report to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
Saturday: With just one point in 11 games, the Vegas Golden Knight decided to make a change and have placed third line forward Brandon Pirri on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
The move is somewhat surprising as Pirri has proven to be a solid depth-line option despite his struggles scoring so far this year and might be the perfect candidate to be claimed off waivers tomorrow. Pirri is currently on the first of a two-year, $1.55MM deal with a very affordable $775K AAV, which even the tightest of cap teams would be able to make room for. The 28-year-old has just one assist in 11 games for the Golden Knights and that lone point came on Oct. 4.
Pirri signed with the Golden Knights in the organization’s first year, but spent his first season with the Chicago Wolves, potting 29 goals and 52 points back in 2017-18. He continued to post big numbers last season in just 29 games, scoring 18 goals and 42 points before finally getting the call to Vegas where he went on an impressive scoring streak, scoring eight goals in his first 11 games for Vegas. However, he wasn’t able to maintain that pace, scoring just four more over the next 20 goals.
Most expected Pirri to find a better situation elsewhere when he hit free agency in the summer as playing time in Vegas was hard to come by. However, instead, Pirri surprised everyone by signing a team-friendly deal with the Golden Knights instead.
Vegas likely feels it has enough depth in their bottom-six to live without Pirri. The team has Cody Glass, Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch on the third line with winger Valentin Zykov expected to return to the lineup on Nov. 29 after his 20-game suspension is finished. The team also has a number of options in the AHL, including 20-year-old prospect Lucas Elvenes, who is second in the AHL in scoring with five goals and 21 points.
Great depth option