Saturday: Hirose has cleared waivers as expected as the Red Wings have assigned him to the Griffins. Kyle Criscuolo and Joe Veleno were also sent down.
Friday: You don’t often see players hit waivers at this point in the season, but CapFriendly reports that it happened today. Taro Hirose of the Detroit Red Wings is on waivers, which would allow him to play in the Grand Rapids Griffins’ final game on Saturday.
It is an extraordinarily odd thing to do, given the Griffins aren’t even going to the playoffs, but it could get Hirose in at least one more game should he clear and be assigned to the minor leagues tomorrow. He is still eligible to play in the AHL because he was on a minor league roster at the trade deadline, but needs waivers because he has played more than ten NHL games since the last time he cleared.
Hirose, 25, will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer after playing in just 57 games since signing with the Red Wings in 2018. He actually has recorded 20 points in that time, but seems likely to receive nothing more than a short-term two-way contract on the open market. He can help strengthen a minor league club, as he’s been nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL, but his NHL upside now looks limited to injury replacement.
If a team claimed him, he would not be eligible to play in the NHL playoffs.
Under utilized by Blashill is all
Are there any updates on Taro Tsujimoto?
The Katanas are in the playoffs, I hear.
The Katanas have never lost with Taro on the ice. Let’s Go Katanas!
He’s the next Chris Bourque.
IF that.
He sucked and that’s why he got cut
Never given enough minutes