Jan. 7: Nesterenko has cleared waivers, per Friedman.
Jan. 6: The Ducks placed winger Nikita Nesterenko on waivers Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Nesterenko, 24, had broken camp with Anaheim but only recently returned to the lineup after a lengthy string of healthy scratches. Since stepping back into the lineup on Dec. 29 against the Sharks, he had an assist and nine hits in four games while averaging 13:19 of ice time. He was a -3 in yesterday’s 7-4 loss to the Capitals.
The 2019 sixth-round pick had parlayed solid minor-league production and some good call-ups last year into his first one-way contract last offseason, signing a two-year, $1.575MM extension. There were questions about whether he’d carve out an opening night job over waiver-exempt competitors like Sam Colangelo and Tim Washe, but in the end, a strong training camp and fears over losing him on waivers led to Nesterenko getting the roster spot.
He’s made 27 appearances for Anaheim this year, scoring a goal and eight assists while ranking sixth on the team with 50 hits. He was deployed as something of a defensive specialist despite not receiving regular penalty kill deployment, only starting 44.3% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone while controlling a team-worst 48.3% of shot attempts.
Anaheim will be absolved of his $787.5K cap hit for the time being if he clears waivers and is reassigned to AHL San Diego. With nearly $24MM in current cap space, though, that’s not much of a concern.
Canucks – trade Sherwood for that first and tag Nesterenko to fill the gap. It’s a plan you can succeed with
Can you imagine Canucks fans when he doesn’t score and has -3 every night?
I thought -3 every night was the new standard in Vancouver?