The Seattle Kraken had to make room for Mason Appleton, who has been activated off injured reserve, so Nathan Bastian finds himself on waivers today.
Bastian, 23, was the Kraken’s expansion pick from the New Jersey Devils, but saw very limited time in his games with Seattle. Averaging just over nine minutes of ice time through 12 appearances, he hadn’t even gotten into the lineup since November 9. With Appleton returning, someone on the roster was going to have to be exposed, since none of the Kraken skaters are waiver-exempt.
It will be interesting to see if Bastian clears, given his obvious upside. Though he has just two points this season, he has scored in bunches in the minor leagues, was a high draft pick in 2016 (41st overall), and possesses the size–6’4″–that many teams covet in the bottom-six. He’s more than willing to use that size too, as Bastian recorded 136 hits in just 41 games for the Devils last season and even drops the gloves on occasion.
New Jersey themselves could even bring Bastian back, though they made a move to bring up Chase De Leo recently to fill out the last spot on the roster and have other forwards who will return from injury at some point.
If he isn’t claimed, Bastian could be sent to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.
Pens need some cheap bulk for the 4th line
Kinda hope the Devils bring him back, he had chemistry with McLeod and Wood something that has been missing on our bottom 6 this year. At very least he is certainly an upgrade over Geertsen
Would be disappointed if Devils don’t claim. They are short on size, toughness and right handed shooting wingers.