Tyson Jost, Michael Hutchinson Clear Waivers

Dec. 29: Jost and Hutchinson both passed through waivers unclaimed, per Friedman.

Dec. 28: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, forward Tyson Jost and goaltender Michael Hutchinson have been placed on waivers by the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings, respectively.

Jost, 25, arrives on waivers in the midst of a difficult contract season in Buffalo. The pending unrestricted free agent is making $2MM against the cap but has not provided much return on investment for the Sabres. He’s scored just four points in 29 games this season and has seen his role on the team erode compared to last year.

Last season, Jost averaged 13:20 time-on-ice per game and saw over a minute of penalty-killing time per game as well.

So far this season, Jost has dropped under a minute short-handed and has seen his overall ice time drop dangerously close to the 10 minute plateau.

That decline in role has come alongside his significantly reduced production, and now he’ll be made available to all 31 other teams.

It’s a relatively quick turnaround for Jost, a player who just last night skated as the Sabres’ number-one center in the absence of Tage Thompson. But in a different sense, Jost’s return to the AHL (which seems likely as his $2MM cap hit makes claiming him a difficult prospect for most teams across the league) has been a long time coming. The former top prospect played well at the BCHL and NCAA levels but has struggled to make his mark on the NHL.

Jost’s ability to play a two-way game meant that earlier in his career, Jost could be trusted to play in a bottom-six role at the NHL level. As a result, he never got to play in the AHL on any sort of extended basis. That meant that he never got the chance to learn how to score on a consistent basis as a professional, and his offensive game never quite took off.

Now he’ll likely land with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, and get the chance to potentially play in a starring offensive role that he never received in the NHL. For the Sabres, sending him to the AHL would save the team some cap space and would also clear a roster spot to be used on a different player.

As for Hutchinson, he’s already cleared waivers this season (for his original assignment to the AHL) and has been through the process numerous times before in his career as a third goalie.

As an established veteran netminder in a league perpetually in need of quality goaltending, there is a chance Hutchinson gets claimed. His league-minimum cap hit is easy for most teams to fit into their financial picture, although his AHL performance (5-7-1 .895 save percentage) is not hugely encouraging.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images