Four Players Clear Waivers

Sunday: All four players have cleared waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Comrie was quickly sent to the AHL.

Saturday: Today is the first day that players can be placed on waivers following the roster freeze and it’s a busy day on the wire.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter links) that Markus Granlund (Edmonton), Brandon Manning (Edmonton), Andy Andreoff (Philadelphia), and Eric Comrie (Winnipeg) have all been put on waivers.

Granlund is in his first year with Edmonton after joining them in the summer when he was non-tendered by Vancouver.  The hope was that he could provide some secondary scoring along with some positional flexibility and while he has given them the latter, he hasn’t produced much as he has just three goals and one assist in 31 games this season while averaging a career-low 11 minutes per night of ice time.  Nonetheless, with a $1.3MM deal that expires at the end of the season, there could be some interest from a team looking for some depth.

As for Manning, this marks his second time on waivers already this season.  He went unclaimed at the beginning of the season but was never sent down as instead, the Oilers kept him up in a reserve role.  He has only played in nine games this year but since he has been up for more than 30 days since clearing waivers, he needed to be put back on the wire to be sent down.  He carries a $2.25MM cap hit which is likely too high for anyone to want to add.  Assuming he does clear, Edmonton would get $1.075MM in cap relief and the same would apply if Granlund clears which would give them a bit of cap relief.

Andreoff is also on waivers for the second time this season.  He cleared early in training camp and was sent to AHL Lehigh Valley where he picked up eight points in 14 games, earning himself a recall in early November.  He was shuffled back and forth a couple of times to free up some cap room but now that he has played in ten NHL games (where he collected an assist), he has to go back on waivers to be sent down.  He’s in the first year of a two-year, one-way deal that pays him $750K per year.

Comrie is no stranger to the waiver wire himself.  He was placed on waivers by the Jets at the end of training camp and was claimed by Arizona to serve as injury depth.  He didn’t see any action with them aside from a four-game AHL conditioning stint before he was dealt to Detroit who needed a short-term backup option.  He got into three games with them before being waived again and picked up by the Jets.  If he makes it through this time, he’ll be able to be sent to Manitoba of the AHL.  Comrie is in the first season of a two-year contract that carries a $700K AAV.  This season is a two-way pact before converting to a one-way deal for 2020-21.