Thursday: Meskanen has cleared waivers and will see his contract terminated.
Wednesday: The New York Rangers have placed Ville Meskanen on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, according to CapFriendly. Meskanen is in the second year of the entry-level contract he signed with New York in 2018 after going undrafted. He would become an unrestricted free agent should the termination go through.
Meskanen, 24, earned himself the NHL deal with an impressive 44-point season in Finland during the 2017-18 campaign, one that was highlighted by a third-place finish in the goal scoring race. That kind of success in Liiga obviously isn’t a guarantee of it in North America, but Meskanen seemed like he was on a strong development path when he put up 34 points with the Hartford Wolf Pack last season.
Unfortunately, through 20 games this year the young forward has yet to score a goal and has just four assists. Hartford is a deep, talented team that has other top prospects to develop, meaning Meskanen may not have felt like he had the best opportunity. If the termination is completed, it seems likely that he will return to Europe.
At the time they signed him they were terribly thin up front and it was worth a try. Good luck to him back home.
Meskanen=Puljujarvi & Puljujarvi=Meskanen. Lighting up Liiga doesn’t carry the weight that it used to. If those kids could learn to play between the dots, they could adapt to North American ice much faster.
The Contract Dalek takes another victim. Terminate, terminate!