March 4: Duehr cleared waivers, Friedman reports. The Sharks can now remove him from their roster at will. The team later confirmed they’d sent him to the AHL.
March 3: The Sharks have placed winger Walker Duehr on waivers for the purposes of assignment to AHL San Jose, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
San Jose acquired Duehr by claiming him off waivers from the Flames in January. If Calgary submits a claim for him and is the only team to do so in his 24-hour waiver window, they may assign him directly to their AHL affiliate without needing to waive him again.
Duehr, 27, failed to land a regular role in the lineup in the Bay Area. After playing in eight consecutive contests for the Sharks following his addition to the roster, he’s now been scratched in three straight heading into tonight’s matchup against the Maple Leafs.
The South Dakota-born righty scored twice as a Shark, his first goals of the season after going scoreless in 16 with the Flames. He posted a minus-five rating while recording six shots on goal and 11 hits, and his 8:49 ATOI nearly mirrored his 8:48 with Calgary to begin the campaign.
This is Duehr’s third time on waivers since the 2024-25 league year began. He cleared them late in preseason en route to starting the season with AHL Calgary, but he was recalled in December following season-ending ACL surgeries to Flames forwards Justin Kirkland and Anthony Mantha. Upon failing to lock down a fourth-line role in Alberta, he ended up on waivers to San Jose’s benefit when Calgary decided to try other internal solutions in their bottom six.
Whether the Flames will be interested in a reunion remains to be seen, but it’s likely considering how valuable he was to their feeder club. They signed Duehr as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State in 2021. He scored 9-10–19 with a minus-nine rating in 84 games for Calgary before the Sharks claimed him. While that’s not particularly impactful, especially with highly underwhelming possession numbers this season, his performance in the AHL was stellar. He had 11-8–19 in 20 games for the Wranglers before his December recall to the big club, production they’d surely like to add back into the fold if possible.
San Jose, on the other hand, will hope Duehr clears and can provide that offense to their farm system despite the lack of NHL impact. He’d be a major add for a Barracuda club tracking to finish above .500 for the first time since the 2018-29 season. They boast the AHL’s leading scorer in veteran Andrew Poturalski (23-35–58 in 49 GP), while Sharks 2023 fourth-rounder Luca Cagnoni leads AHL rookie defensemen in scoring with 13-28–41 in 51 games.
“Walker Duehr” sounds like two scotches in one!
I’d Duehr