April 12: Mete and Vatanen were both claimed, but the other four players all cleared waivers. They can now be assigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.
April 11: While Victor Mete and Sami Vatanen headline the waiver wire Sunday, the last day to put players on the waiver wire before the trade deadline, four other players were also waived, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Among those are Detroit Red Wings defensemen Danny DeKeyser and Alex Biega as well as Nashville’s Josh Healey and Ottawa’s Cody Goloubef.
For DeKeyser and Biega, this is the standard waivers practice as both players have seen the waiver wire earlier this year. While playoff teams may be interested in a veteran like DeKeyser, there is no chance that a team would take a chance on the 31-year-old considering he has a $5MM AAV this year as well as next year. No team will be willing to take on the injury-prone defenseman for a second year. DeKeyser, however, has been healthy this season, playing in 31 games for Detroit with two goals and six points. Biega, on the other hand, has just appeared in four games for the Red Wings this season, but has served mainly as a taxi squad player and emergency replacement player. The 33-year-old has one assist this season.
As for the other two — Healey and Goloubef — both must be placed through waivers after each signed an NHL contract earlier in the day. Healey signed a one-year deal with the Predators, while Goloubef signed an NHL deal with the Ottawa Senators.