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Andy Welinski

Waivers: 09/30/22

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After waivers opened yesterday, quite a few players have ended up on the wire today. Teams keep making cuts to their rosters, and any veteran player needs to clear before being assigned to the minor leagues. Here are the names on waivers today.

Dallas Stars 

Riley Barber
Ben Gleason
Tanner Kero
Jerad Rosburg
Joseph Cecconi
Rhett Gardner

Detroit Red Wings

Chase Pearson

Florida Panthers

Connor Bunnaman

New York Rangers

Andy Welinski
Tim Gettinger

Philadelphia Flyers

Isaac Ratcliffe
Linus Sandin

San Jose Sharks

C.J. Suess
Andrew Agozzino

Tampa Bay Lightning

Daniel Walcott
Darren Raddysh
Maxime Lagace
Trevor Carrick

Washington Capitals

Michael Sgarbossa
Riley Sutter
Mike Vecchione
Hunter Shepard

New York Rangers Agree To Terms With Three Players

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The New York Rangers have finished some offseason business, agreeing to terms with three players (two of them which were previously reported). Turner Elson, Andy Welinski, and Austin Rueschhoff have all agreed to one-year contracts.

While Elson and Welinski were reported in the early part of free agency, it is Rueschhoff that will draw some attention. The 24-year-old forward was a restricted free agent this summer after his entry-level contract expired and is coming off an impressive sophomore campaign with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The winger had 14 goals and 24 points in 59 games, offensive totals that aren’t that impressive even for an undrafted college free agent. It’s his size–6’7″ 230-lbs–that makes Rueschhoff so intriguing as an NHL prospect. Quite frankly, he doesn’t need to score very much to make an impact on the ice, and the fact that he is providing some offensive touch only makes him a more interesting package.

With this new deal, the Rangers are showing that they believe so too. It will be interesting to see if he gets a chance to suit up for an NHL game this season, as the New York front office has put importance on size and physicality in the bottom six. While he may never end up being a regular, this contract gives him another chance to serve as a call-up in case of injury as soon as this year.

New York Rangers Expected To Sign Andy Welinski

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According to CapFriendly, the New York Rangers have signed defenseman Andy Welinski to a one-year, two-way contract (link). The contract is worth $750K at the NHL level and $400K in the minors. The right-handed defenseman will serve as veteran depth for a Rangers team that had to part with some of their’s earlier today.

A third-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2011, Welinski has played parts of three NHL seasons, all with Anaheim. Welinski spent four years as a rock-solid defenseman for the University of Minnesota-Duluth before turning pro after the 2015-16 NCAA season. He would spend two full years with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, making his NHL debut during that second season in 2017-18. Welinski split 2018-19 between San Diego and Anaheim, returning to the AHL full-time in 2019-20, splitting 2020-21 once again, getting into just 16 games between both levels. The 29-year-old spent all of last season with the Stockton Heat in the Calgary Flames organization.

On a two-way contract, Welinski is a smart addition for the Rangers, who traded defenseman Patrik Nemeth away earlier today and lost Justin Braun in free agency as well. Though the organization has strong defensive depth between their stars and their prospects, the team did have to rely on depth this year at times too. Between yesterday’s Libor Hajek extension and today’s Welinski deal, the Rangers should have plenty of reserves should they deal with an abundance of injuries.

31 Players Clear Waivers

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Oct 4: 31 of the 32 players placed on waivers have cleared. The Buffalo Sabres have claimed Jonsson-Fjallby from the Washington Capitals.

Oct 3: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that, originally, 13 names have hit the waiver wire today. PuckPedia reports an additional 19 names that have found themselves on waivers today. The 13 names are as follows:

D Trevor Carrick (ANA)
D Kodie Curran (ANA)
D Brendan Guhle (ANA)
F Vinni Lettieri (ANA)
F Danny O’Regan (ANA)
D Brogan Rafferty (ANA)
F Zachary Senyshyn (BOS)
D Nick DeSimone (CGY)
D Kevin Gravel (CGY)
F Matthew Phillips (CGY)
D Andy Welinski (CGY)
D Jalen Chatfield (CAR)
D Joshua Jacobs (CAR)
F Seth Griffith (EDM)
F Cooper Marody (EDM)
F Brandon Baddock (MTL)
F Laurent Dauphin (MTL)
F Jean-Sebastien Dea (MTL)
G Michael McNiven (MTL)
F Anthony Richard (NSH)
F Brian Flynn (NJD)
F Robbie Russo (NJD)
F Greg McKegg (NYR)
F Pontus Aberg (OTT)
D Dillon Heatherington (OTT)
F Kole Sherwood (OTT)
D Tommy Cross (STL)
D Sean Day (TBL)
F Gabriel Dumont (TBL)
F Charles Hudon (TBL)
F Darren Raddysh (TBL)
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (WSH)

More to come…

Calgary Flames Ink Andy Welinski

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The Calgary Flames are adding some depth to the back end in the form of puck-mover Andy Welinski. The team has announced that they have signed the veteran defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract. CapFriendly reports that the deal will pay Welinski the minimum $750K in the NHL and $375K in the AHL, with $400K guaranteed.

A long-time Anaheim Duck, or more accurately San Diego Gull, who was also briefly a member of the Philadelphia Flyers organization, Welinski has flown north and traded in his wings for flames. The 28-year-old defenseman has been a reliable two-way defenseman in the AHL for five years now, also appearing in 46 NHL games with Anaheim. While he isn’t an electrifying talent in either the scoring or checking game, he is a strong skater and handles the puck well. This makes him a dependable call-up option who can step in and play meaningful minutes in all situations. Hence the high guaranteed salary, as Welinski’s value is in the security he brings as a backup, not his upside.

In Calgary, Welinski will be playing behind a deep defensive group eventually, but right now is one of only four experienced NHL defensemen under contract, with returners Juuso Valimaki, Oliver Kylington, and Connor Mackey and newcomer Nikita Zadorov all as unrestricted free agents. With a lot of youth and some players with consistency concerns among the Flames defenders, it makes sense why having the reliable Welinski waiting in the wings is a smart addition for the team.

Large Group Of Players Placed On Waivers

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With just a few days before the start of the regular season, a huge number of players have been placed on waivers. The full list includes:

Anaheim Ducks: 

Anthony Stolarz
Andy Welinski
Christian Djoos
Andrew Poturalski
Chase De Leo
Vinni Lettieri
Sam Carrick
Andrew Agozzino
David Backes

Carolina Hurricanes:

Antoine Bibeau
Steven Lorentz
Spencer Smallman
Jeremy Bracco
Gustav Forsling
Drew Shore
Max McCormick

Colorado Avalanche:

Jacob MacDonald
Dan Renouf
Kyle Burroughs
Mike Vecchione
T.J. Tynan
Miikka Salomaki
Jayson Megna
Sheldon Dries

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Nic Petan

These massive waiver placements are no different than the normal training camp cuts that would occur in late-September in a normal year. Should they clear, these players will be eligible to report to the taxi squad or AHL. There are a few names that stand out from the crowd though.

Backes, a veteran of 950 NHL games, still carries a $6MM cap hit on the final season of the five-year, $30MM contract he signed with the Boston Bruins in 2016. As Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports, this is not a move by the Ducks to try and rid themselves of Backes, but create some additional flexibility. At any rate, his contract basically makes him waiver-proof as no other team would want to take it on at this point in the season.

Bracco, a former top prospect that scored 79 points in 75 games for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL as recently as 2018-19, has seen his development stall and finds himself on the outside looking in for the Hurricanes once again. Djoos, once an up-and-coming defenseman in the Washington Capitals system, is now 26 and available to the whole league, should they want to take a chance.

Ducks Sign Three Players

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Overnight and early this morning, the Ducks have been busy adding some depth.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed defenseman Andy Welinski while PuckPedia adds (Twitter links) that they’ve also inked center Vinni Lettieri to a one-year pact and re-signed center Andrew Poturalski to a one-year pact.

Welinski returns to an organization that he has plenty of familiarity with having spent parts of four seasons with Anaheim in their system before signing with the Flyers as a free agent last summer.  However, he only played with their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley, recording 21 points (8-13-21) in 42 games.  The 27-year-old has 33 career games of NHL experience with Anaheim and will carry a cap hit of $750K.

As for Lettieri, he spent the last four years in the Rangers’ system and is coming off a strong performance with AHL Hartford last season where he had 25 goals and 22 assists in 61 games to lead the Wolf Pack in scoring.  Despite that, he didn’t receive a recall to New York although he has 46 games of NHL experience under his belt from previous years.  The 25-year-old will get $750K in the NHL and $425K in the minors.

Poturalski, meanwhile, had an injury-riddled first season in Anaheim’s system after coming over from Carolina last summer as he was limited to just 17 games with AHL San Diego where he had two goals and five assists.  He was a top-end producer at that level in 2018-19 when he finished fifth in AHL scoring.  The 26-year-old gets $700K in the NHL and $350K in the minors with a total guarantee on the deal of $425K.

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