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Christian Wolanin

Vancouver Canucks Sign Christian Wolanin

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Per CapFriendly, the Vancouver Canucks have signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Christian Wolanin to a one-year, two-way deal paying him $750K in the NHL and $350K in the AHL.

Wolanin, 27, has 70 games of NHL experience between Ottawa, Buffalo, and Los Angeles. While it looked like Wolanin had legitimate NHL upside a few seasons ago with a 12-point year in 2018-19 in just 30 games at 23 years old, those days are behind him. A good option for a seventh defenseman, Wolanin adds to the pool of defensive depth Vancouver has built.

He’ll be competing with players like Kyle Burroughs, young Jack Rathbone, Noah Juulsen, and Wyatt Kalynuk to make the Canucks come training camp in September. If he doesn’t make the squad, he’s a risk to get claimed on waivers if the injury bug strikes other teams on defense.

Kings Place Alex Edler On Injured Reserve

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The Los Angeles Kings were hoping to take a step forward this season in their pursuit of a postseason return. A key move made this summer to help achieve that goal was the signing of veteran defenseman Alex Edler. The career Vancouver Canuck only signed a one-year deal, but his two-way ability and veteran presence was expected to be a major addition both on and off the ice in L.A. To this point, Edler has been even more important than anticipated. With star Drew Doughty having missed time due to injury and Sean Walker out for the season with an injury of his own, Edler has been relied upon as one of the few constant contributors of experience and scoring on the Kings blue line.

That is, until now. The Kings have announced that Edler has been placed on injured reserve following an awkward collision into the boards on Saturday night forced him from the game. Edler received a check from Minnesota Wild forward Brandon Duhaime in the first period and lost his balance, falling against the boards in his own zone. Edler’s left ankle appeared to give way as he fell and as Edler was being helped from the ice, he was unable to put any weight on his left leg. To this point, the team has only described the situation as a lower-body injury.

With Edler out, the Kings are losing their defensive scoring leader who has 11 points in 26 games. Edler also leads the team in plus/minus and is second in blocked shots and hits; the reliable defender has played no small role in L.A. this season. Christian Wolanin has been recalled to replace Edler’s roster spot, but it is Olli Maatta that is likely to draw into the lineup first. More pressure will also be placed on Matt Roy, who is enjoying the best season of his career, and rookies Michael Anderson and Tobias Bjornfot, who have excelled thus far despite adversity. The Kings’ season is not quite living up to the expectations they had imagined this season, as they currently sit sixth in the Pacific Division, but their points percentage has improved since last season and the team has a chance to stay in the playoff mix if they can survive another significant defensive absence. The team has not issued any update on the severity of Edler’s injury or any timeline on a return, but the hope is certainly that they will not be without their major free agent addition for too long.

Christian Wolanin Claimed By Los Angeles Kings

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The Los Angeles Kings have claimed Christian Wolanin of waivers. Given that the team has immediately assigned him to the minor leagues, they were the only team to put in a claim. The Buffalo Sabres, who claimed Wolanin earlier this year, will lose him after putting him in the lineup just once.

This likely isn’t what Wolanin was expecting when he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Kings in July, one that came with a very healthy minor league guarantee of $400K. Instead of playing for the Ontario Reign so far though, he’s been in the NHL all year acting as a practice option. He has suited up for just a single game, that one in Buffalo, and it occurred back on November 8. He’ll now have to head to the minors and hope he can get back up to game speed quickly, if he wants to contribute at all for Los Angeles down the road.

The Kings do have defensive injuries, even though they got Drew Doughty back last night. Adding some experienced depth like Wolanin is important, especially now that they can hide him in the minors until needed. It’s been a long time since he even played regularly there, with only 12 AHL games since the end of the 2018-19 season.

Christian Wolanin Placed On Waivers

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The Buffalo Sabres have placed Christian Wolanin back on waivers, the place they claimed him from last month. The defenseman ended up playing just one game with the Sabres so far and needs to clear to be sent to the minor leagues. Should his former team the Los Angeles Kings claim him and are the only club to do so, they will be able to send him directly to the AHL.

Buffalo recently added Mark Jankowski on an NHL deal and are expected to get Casey Mittelstadt back from injury soon, meaning there needed to be a roster spot opened somewhere. Wolanin wasn’t being used anyway and has a real chance to clear, so the team has decided he’s the one to risk to the rest of the league. It’s not that he doesn’t have NHL experience, as Wolanin has played in 62 games at the highest level, but it’s been extremely inconsistent playing time to this point.

His biggest opportunity came in 2018-19 with the Ottawa Senators, when he ended up playing in 30 games for the team and recorded 12 points. Since then though it’s been up, down, and a lot of healthy scratches for the 26-year-old. Perhaps a team like the Edmonton Oilers or Carolina Hurricanes, both dealing with massive absences on the blueline, would take a chance, but it’s hard to see how Wolanin will get regular playing time in the league this season.

Sabres Claim Christian Wolanin Off Waivers

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The Sabres have added some depth on the back end as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is among those reporting (Twitter link) that they have claimed defenseman Christian Wolanin off waivers from the Kings.  To make room on the roster, the Sabres moved defenseman Henri Jokiharju to injured reserve.

The 26-year-old spent most of last season in Ottawa where he played a limited role, getting into 15 games with the Sens, recording three assists while averaging 13 minutes per game.  After clearing waivers in late March, he was then traded to Los Angeles in exchange for Michael Amadio.  With the Kings, Wolanin was sparingly used, suiting up only three times and was on the outside looking in at a spot in the lineup this season which led to his placement yesterday.

With the claim, Buffalo will once again have seven healthy defensemen on the roster and with Jokiharju set to miss at least a couple of weeks, Wolanin will have a short-term chance to stake a claim to a spot on the roster with the Sabres.  It’s a low-risk pickup for Buffalo as Wolanin is making the league minimum of $750K at the NHL level with an AHL salary of $375K and a total guarantee of $400K.

Los Angeles Kings Waive Christian Wolanin

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The Los Angeles Kings have waived defenseman Christian Wolanin, per TSN’s Chris Johnston. In all likelihood, the roster move means that defenseman Olli Maatta is healthy and will be activated from injured reserve.

Wolanin, now 26, could certainly be a candidate to get picked up on the waiver wire considering the claim of Dennis Cholowski yesterday. Wolanin’s been fairly productive over a sparse four-season career in the NHL, posting five goals and 18 points in 61 career games. All but three of those games have been spent with the Ottawa Senators, but he was dealt to the Kings in March of 2021 in exchange for Michael Amadio.

While he is a left-shot defenseman, he could very well be claimed by the Buffalo Sabres as they deal with an injury to Henri Jokiharju. The Devils could also be a candidate to claim him as both Ty Smith and Damon Severson remain out with injury.

Wolanin makes the league minimum $750,000 on a two-way, one-year deal.

A solid two-way player, Wolanin is fully capable of serving full-time on an NHL roster if need be, more suitably as a seventh defenseman. He was a fourth-round draft pick of the Senators in 2015.

Senators Will Not Extend Qualifying Offers To Six RFA’s

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The deadline to extend qualifying offers to restricted free agents arrives on Monday, but the Ottawa Senators have already made their plans clear. The young team has no shortage of restricted free agents, but that list is about to be trimmed substantially. As relayed by the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, Senators GM Pierre Dorion has confirmed that forwards Michael Amadio, J.C. Beaudin, Jonathan Davidsson, and Jack Kopacka, defenseman Brandon Fortunato, and goaltender Marcus Hogberg will not receive qualifying offers. That group of six is nearly half of Ottawa’s current 14 restricted free agents.

The most notable name on the list is Hogberg, who served as the Senators’ primary backup goalie the past two seasons. However, he is also the least surprising inclusion on the list. The team informed the 26-year-old back in May that they would not qualify him and have stuck to that promise. Hogberg has struggled in the NHL and is expected to return to Sweden.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is Amadio, who would only require the minimum $750K salary to qualify. Acquired this season from the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Christian Wolanin, Amadio has 173 NHL games on his resume including a 2018-19 campaign in which he scored at a full season pace of 12 goals and 25 points. One would think that this could be a useful player for the Senators to hold on to, at least for a full year, but instead they will move on quickly from the 25-year-old winger.

Kopacka was also new to Ottawa this season, acquired from the San Jose Sharks as part of the package for defenseman Christian Jaros, but has never played in the NHL and did little in the AHL to show he was worthy of a new contract. Beaudin, who saw 22 games with the Senators this season, seemingly did not do enough in his audition to stick with the club. Fortunato, the most expensive player to qualify despite having no NHL experience and unspectacular AHL numbers, and Davidsson, who is signed to a multi-year deal overseas, are not surprising inclusions on this list of soon-to-be former Senators.

If anything, this exodus of RFA’s from Ottawa implies that the Senators see better uses for their maximum 50 contract slots. With a deep pipeline of prospects, the team could be looking to bring younger, more exciting options into the fold this season in place of these aging, uninspiring players.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Christian Wolanin

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The Los Angeles Kings have retained a depth defenseman, signing Christian Wolanin to a one-year contract. The two-way deal carries an NHL salary of $750K. Wolanin was scheduled to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer.

As we examined recently in our Kings Free Agent Focus piece, Wolanin was basically the only pending UFA that really carried any weight for Los Angeles. His return will give the team another depth option, but certainly doesn’t guarantee him much playing time. The 26-year-old suited up for 18 games this season, but only three of them came with the Kings after a trade from the Ottawa Senators. Since signing his entry-level contract in 2018, he has played in 61 NHL games, recording 18 points.

One thing that may have swayed things in favor of an extension? Wolanin’s strong performance at this year’s World Championship, where he posted six points for Team USA and took home a bronze medal. A league-minimum two-way contract is never a bad idea for a player that has shown an ability to play at the NHL level, and in this case it very well could be a bargain for the Kings.

Wolanin will be left exposed to Seattle, but doesn’t really seem like a prime target given the other players that could be available in Los Angeles.

USA Hockey Announces World Championship Roster

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The IIHF World Championship roster is always a little different. Because the tournament takes place during the NHL playoffs, many players are unable to attend. Many others choose not to participate because of injuries they sustained during the season, meaning there are often some interesting choices that compete for their country.

This season is perhaps even more difficult for U.S. Men’s National Team general manager Chris Drury. Not only does he have injuries and the postseason to deal with, but many players haven’t seen their families for months and just want to spend some quality time at home. With that in mind, this year’s team has both players not yet drafted and others that have already aged out of the NHL.

The full roster is as follows:

G Jake Oettinger
G Cal Petersen
G Anthony Stolarz

D Adam Clendening
D Matt Hellickson
D Zac Jones
D Connor Mackey
D Matt Roy
D Ryan Shea
D Matt Tennyson
D Chris Wideman
D Christian Wolanin

F Justin Abdelkader
F Matthew Beniers
F Colin Blackwell
F Brian Boyle
F Sasha Chmelevski
F Ryan Donato
F Jack Drury
F Conor Garland
F Kevin Labanc
F Trevor Moore
F Jason Robertson
F Eric Robinson
F Kevin Rooney
F Tage Thompson

The U.S. team will be coached by Jack Capuano. The tournament kicks off on May 21 in Riga, Latvia.

Christian Wolanin To Be Group VI UFA

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When the Los Angeles Kings acquired 26-year-old defenseman Christian Wolanin from the Ottawa Senators on March 29, they had a chance to make the deal last beyond just this season. Playing on an expiring contract this season, Wolanin appeared likely to be a restricted free agent this summer. However, there was a chance that he could instead qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency, a status reserved for players 25 and older with three or more professional seasons but with fewer than 80 NHL games played. Yet, due to the shortened 2020-21 season, that games played total was actually reduced to 71 total games played for Wolanin, making it even less likely that he would end up as a Group VI UFA. He entered the season with 43 games played and as a starting defenseman for Ottawa it seemed fairly obvious that he would play the necessary 28 games if he stayed healthy.

The first sign that Wolanin may fall short of the games played requirement for further team control came during a streak of ten games earlier this season when Wolanin was benched by the Senators. With the likes of Mike Reilly and Artem Zub establishing themselves as blue line fixtures for Ottawa early on, Wolanin slid out of the top four and then out of the lineup entirely. Perhaps sensing that he would not become an RFA if he stayed in Ottawa all season, the team first waived Wolanin and then began floating his name to other teams who might have more interest in playing him. Still, by the time he was dealt in late March, Wolanin had played in a few more games for the Senators following his benching and remained just 13 games shy of the games played mark with more than a month left in the season.

Well tonight, the night of April 28, marks nearly a month since Wolanin landed with the Kings in a deal for forward Michael Amadio. In that time, Wolanin has played in just three games for Los Angeles. More importantly, tonight’s match-up between L.A. and the Anaheim Ducks also marks ten games left in the regular season for the Kings. In order to retain control over Wolanin beyond this season as an RFA rather than allow him to walk as a Group VI UFA, the defenseman needed to be in the lineup tonight and for each of the team’s remaining games. Wouldn’t you know it, the Kings dressed seven defensemen tonight – none of them named Christian Wolanin. The 26-year-old will hit the open market this summer, despite all expectations to the contrary entering the season.

It seems that the Kings, like the Senators, are not all that bothered by losing Wolanin. L.A. is technically still in the playoff mix in the West Division, but are well outside the picture. They would not have been making much of a sacrifice by playing Wolanin over another defenseman, just as the bottom-dwelling Senators might have done. In that same vein, this result also serves to benefit the man himself. Having spent time on two teams who did not value his contributions, he can now seek a superior fit for next season. Sure, Wolanin is unlikely to get the $1MM qualifying offer that he would have been owed if either Ottawa or L.A. had wanted to keep him for one last year, but this way he can move on with the next stage of his career and have some control over what happens next. The former North Dakota standout still has some upside to his game and just needs to find a team willing to give him a chance.

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