Lightning To Reassign Cam Atkinson, Logan Brown
March 5: Atkinson and Brown cleared waivers, according to Friedman. Both will be reassigned to Syracuse as the Lightning look to close a trade with the Kraken for forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde.
March 4: The Lightning have placed forwards Cam Atkinson and Logan Brown on waivers for reassignment to AHL Syracuse, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Brown wasn’t previously under contract with the Bolts, so the move indicates he’s been promoted from his contract with Syracuse and signed to an NHL contract for the rest of the campaign.
It’s certainly eye-popping to see Atkinson, a veteran of over 800 NHL games, on the waiver wire. His performance after signing a one-year, $900K deal with the Bolts early in free agency, though, has left much to be desired. The 35-year-old has 3-5–8 through 36 games and is averaging a career-low 8:49 per night. He’s become an increasingly frequent healthy scratch as a result, sitting out a season-high four straight contests entering tonight’s game against his former team, the Blue Jackets.
Atkinson was still a semi-serviceable top-nine piece for the Flyers last year, posting 13-15–28 through 70 games. It wasn’t nearly enough to justify his $5.875MM cap hit, though, and Philadelphia opted to buy him out with one year remaining on his contract. The downturn in production from the diminutive yet skilled Atkinson came after he missed the entire 2022-23 campaign following neck surgery, one that unfortunately seems to have tanked his effectiveness in his career’s twilight.
Selected in the sixth round of the 2008 draft by the Blue Jackets, Atkinson was a top-six fixture in Columbus for a decade. He posted 402 points in 627 games with the club before they traded him to Philly in the 2021 offseason in a blockbuster one-for-one exchange that sent Jakub Voráček the other way. Injuries have derailed both players’ careers since, with Voráček since retiring due to concussions.
Now in Tampa, Atkinson has been superseded by players like Zemgus Girgensons and Gage Goncalves on their depth chart. He’s been tried at right wing on the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel – a role that’s Tampa’s top priority this week to fill. Waiving Atkinson gives them additional roster and salary cap flexibility to achieve that goal.
They’ll also add Brown as a recall option down the stretch, assuming he clears waivers. The 26-year-old center will earn a pro-rated salary of $775K in the NHL and $350K in the AHL down the stretch, per PuckPedia.
The No. 11 pick in the 2016 draft, Brown hasn’t skated in an NHL game since making 30 appearances for the Blues in the 2022-23 campaign. He signed a two-way deal with Tampa for 2023-24 but ended up spending the entire season on injured reserve following an undisclosed surgery. He returned to the Bolts on a camp tryout and landed an AHL deal with Syracuse, where the 6’6″ pivot has 7-12–19 through 25 appearances.
Brown won’t count against the Bolts’ active roster since he was waived on the same day he signed a contract.
Sharks’ Walker Duehr Clears Waivers
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.
Bruins Reassign Oliver Wahlstrom
Feb. 28: Wahlstrom cleared waivers, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He’s on his way to Providence as expected, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald confirms.
Feb. 27: The Bruins placed winger Oliver Wahlstrom on waivers today, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.
Wahlstrom has only been a member of the Boston organization for two and a half months. Claimed off waivers from the Islanders in mid-December, the 24-year-old hasn’t panned out. He’s been a frequent healthy scratch and has only played in four of the Bruins’ last 10 games.
When dressed, the 2018 11th overall pick has remained a non-factor. He managed just a goal and assist in 16 appearances for Boston, averaging 10:30 per game and shooting at just 4.2%. A premier goal-scorer in his youth, potting 48 in 62 games with the U.S. National U18 Team in his draft year, he’s now on track to finish at a clip worse than six percent in back-to-back seasons.
All told, Wahlstrom has just four points in 34 games this season split between the Bruins and Islanders. His possession metrics were ghastly in New York but have notably improved since the move. He’s not broken even in shot attempts at even strength, still only controlling 47.8%, but that’s better than how the Bruins have fared without him on the ice whenever he’s been in the lineup. Still, there’s little evidence for him as an effective everyday NHLer, especially since a leg injury truncated a promising 2022-23 campaign at the halfway mark. He’s never fully rebounded, only scoring 12 points in 75 appearances since returning after he was on pace for 37 points over 82 games before the injury.
It’s notable that Wahlstrom is being removed from the roster even in the wake of an injury to top-nine forward Trent Frederic, who’s now out week-to-week and will likely be out the door by the trade deadline anyway. The likelihood of a claim is minimal after a failed change of scenery, so he figures to head to AHL Providence for his first minor-league action in five years.
The Bruins will have an open roster spot tomorrow after Wahlstrom clears or is claimed and could open a second one by moving Frederic to IR. It’s unclear what they plan on doing with the flexibility, although a corresponding recall from Providence should be expected before a two-game road trip that begins this weekend.
Penguins’ Matt Nieto Clears Waivers
Feb. 27: Nieto cleared waivers and can be sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.
Feb. 26: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed forward Matthew Nieto on waivers. Should he clear waivers over the next 24 hours, the Penguins can safely reassign him to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
It’s the second time in his career that Nieto has been placed on waivers and his first as a Penguin. His last time on the waiver wire came back in 2017 when Nieto was claimed off waivers from the San Jose Sharks by the Colorado Avalanche.
The news is unsurprising given Nieto has been an oft-scratched member of Pittsburgh’s forward core for much of February. Since being activated from the team’s injured reserve in mid-November, Nieto has played in 31 of the Penguins’ 42 games despite being healthy for all of them.
Similarly to last year, Nieto hasn’t been all that productive when healthy, either. Nieto signed a two-year, $1.8MM contract with Pittsburgh in the 2023-24 offseason and has scored two goals and seven points in 53 games since.
Although he’s been confined to a bottom-six role for much of his tenure in Pittsburgh, the team was likely hoping for more offensive production. He’s been a productive bottom-six scorer for much of his career with several multi-goal and 20-point campaigns, but things haven’t worked out positively in western Pennsylvania. The 12-year NHL veteran may find a home in another team’s bottom-six but odds are he’ll be packing his bags for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by tomorrow.
Oilers Claim Travis Dermott Off Waivers, Assign To AHL
Feb. 27: Dermott is heading to a familiar location. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Oilers have re-claimed off waivers after losing him to Minnesota in December. He’s already suited up in 10 games for Edmonton this season. Indirectly confirming they were the only team to place a claim on his services, the Oilers announced they’ve reassigned Dermott to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
Feb. 26: The Wild announced that defenseman Travis Dermott has been placed on waivers. The move will open up a roster spot for an additional AHL recall tomorrow after swapping out Jakub Lauko for Joel Eriksson Ek on injured reserve this morning.
Dermott has only been waived once during his pro career, which is how the Wild acquired him from the Oilers in December. Minnesota needed an experienced presence on the blue line then, with Jonas Brodin and Jacob Middleton on the shelf. However, Dermott’s role has evaporated since the Wild have gotten healthier on the blue line. He’s made nine appearances since the claim over two months ago, going without a point or hit while averaging a paltry 11:23 per game.
Minnesota has carried eight defensemen for much of the last few months. However, with the suspended Ryan Hartman taking up the usual roster spot they devote for an extra forward, they need another body on offense for their two-game road trip that starts Thursday in Utah. It’s unclear who exactly the corresponding recall from AHL Iowa will be, but a forward will be Dermott’s replacement on the active roster tomorrow.
If Edmonton submits a claim for Dermott before tomorrow’s deadline and is the only team to do so, they could send him directly to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield without having to expose him to the wire again. However, if he clears, it will mark Dermott’s first non-conditioning AHL assignment in seven years.
Appearing in each of the last eight NHL seasons, Dermott has a career 16-46–62 scoring line in 348 games with the Oilers, Wild, Coyotes, Canucks, and Maple Leafs. Injuries have limited Dermott’s playing time over the last few years, but the 28-year-old lefty can also play his off-side comfortably, making him a valuable depth asset. Selected 34th overall by Toronto in the 2015 draft, he has decent career possession numbers with a 50.9 CF% and cumulative +23.4 expected rating at even strength, so he remains a decent replacement-level player in bottom-pairing usage despite his lack of offense.
Utah Hockey Club Reassigns Juuso Välimäki
Feb. 24: Välimäki cleared waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The team’s Craig Morgan confirms he’ll report to AHL Tucson.
Feb. 23: The Utah Hockey Club’s return to health on the blue line has led to some difficult roster decisions, notably losing defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok on waivers to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Today, the team will attempt to send defenseman Juuso Välimäki through waivers, per a team announcement.
It’s not an unfamiliar situation for the former 16th overall selection of the 2017 NHL Draft. Välimäki was claimed off waivers from the Calgary Flames at the beginning of the 2022-23 season by the Arizona Coyotes and has remained with the team through their move to Salt Lake City, UT.
At the time, the Coyotes appeared to have the steal of the season on the waiver wire after Välimäki broke out for four goals and 30 assists in 78 games in his first year with the organization. Arizona was uniquely positioned to allow Välimäki into a top-four role with the club — something the Flames couldn’t do at the time. Unfortunately, the Tampere, Finland native didn’t respond as well with increased responsibility last year.
He improved defensively as evidenced by his +12 rating over 68 appearances and career-high 92.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength. However, his offensive production was cut in half scoring two goals and 17 points despite increasing his average time on ice by approximately a minute.
This year has brought an even larger drop-off for Välimäki. Although Utah has dealt with multiple injuries on the blue line, Välimäki has seen his average ice time drop by two and a half minutes. Falling offensively and defensively, he’s scored two goals and three assists in 43 games with a -5 rating.
Välimäki’s disappointing output could be a blessing in disguise for Utah should they hope to retain him. Even though he’s making an affordable $2MM this year and next, his production has given that contract a slight negative value meaning other teams may let him pass through unclaimed.
Islanders’ Dennis Cholowski Clears Waivers
Feb. 21: Cholowski passed through unclaimed, PuckPedia reports. He’ll presumably be removed from the Islanders’ roster in the coming days.
Feb. 20: The Islanders have placed defenseman Dennis Cholowski on waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll head down to AHL Bridgeport if he clears.
New York is set to come out of the break with an open roster spot, but there’s a high likelihood of Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock coming off standard IR and LTIR, respectively, before Sunday’s game against the Stars. Assigning Cholowski to the minors tomorrow or losing him to another team will open the second spot they need to activate both.
Cholowski, who turned 27 earlier this week, has seen his most extended NHL usage in a half-decade this season. Injuries on the Long Island blue-line have meant Cholowski, who began the year as the Isles’ seventh defenseman, has played in 33 of 55 games. Minutes have been hard to come by – his 12:48 ATOI is the lowest among New York defensemen with multiple appearances – but he’s been effective in them with a 3-7–10 scoring line and a plus-one rating. He’s far from physically involved, recording 30 blocks and only five hits, but the 2016 first-rounder has been a decent depth puck-mover in his return to semi-regular NHL minutes.
Unfortunately for him, how the Islanders responded to injuries to Pulock and Noah Dobson muddied his role down the stretch. They picked up a trio of puck-movers – Adam Boqvist, Tony DeAngelo, and Scott Perunovich – who all have more experience or a higher ceiling than Cholowski. It’s not a huge surprise the 6’2″ lefty is the odd man out upon Pulock’s return instead of any of their new pickups.
Cholowski has seen AHL action in all six of his professional seasons leading up to the 2024-25 campaign. If he clears, he’ll land a seventh, but there’s a decent chance a team looking for a cheap depth option makes a claim. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent on a league minimum contract, so there’s zero financial risk if he doesn’t pan out.
A claim would mean Cholowski moves to his fifth NHL organization. Since being drafted 20th overall by the Red Wings and spending three seasons in Detroit, he’s made stops with the Capitals and Kraken in addition to his time in Long Island. Cholowski initially landed with the Isles in free agency in 2022 after being non-tendered by Seattle.
Flames Waive, Reassign Tyson Barrie
Feb. 21, 1:43 p.m.: Barrie cleared waivers Friday, per PuckPedia. The AHL’s transaction log reflects he’d been loaned to the Wranglers.
Feb. 20, 1:04 p.m.: Barrie has indeed hit waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Feb. 20, 11:52 a.m.: The Flames will place defenseman Tyson Barrie on waivers today, per Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet. If no team issues a claim, he’ll head to AHL Calgary.
Saying Barrie has barely played this season would be an understatement. After catching on in Calgary on a camp tryout and subsequently landing a one-year, $1.25MM deal, the 33-year-old has failed to mesh. He’s made just 13 appearances despite remaining healthy for the entirety of the campaign, recording a goal and two assists with a minus-seven rating while averaging 15:48 per game, the lowest deployment of his 14-year career.
Between mid-November and mid-January, Barrie went more than two months without playing, eventually seeing two games of AHL ice on a conditioning stint that didn’t require waivers. He posted another goal and two assists in those contests and was back in the NHL less than a week later. He’s skated in four games since that conditioning stint wrapped up but, despite recording an assist in his return against the Capitals on Jan. 28, posted a negative rating in all of those appearances. He was again scratched for three of Calgary’s final four contests before the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Thus, the Barrie experiment with the Flames is all but over. They recalled youngsters Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov from the minors yesterday, so they’ll be the ones responsible for taking over the veteran’s limited NHL minutes.
Whether anyone wants to take a flyer on the former top-four option, who had 55 points as recently as two years ago with the Oilers and Predators, remains to be seen. The 2009 third-round pick has a 110-398–508 scoring line in 822 career appearances with Colorado, Edmonton, Nashville, Toronto, and Calgary, ranking ninth in scoring among defensemen since he debuted in the 2011-12 campaign. His career -83 rating is also the 10th-worst among D-men during that span, though, and power-play points have accounted for 42% of his career total.
Waiving Barrie gives the Flames the roster spot they’ll need to activate Connor Zary from injured reserve ahead of their return to play this weekend against the Sharks. Zary’s missed 15 games with a lower-body injury but has practiced with Calgary this week, so he may be an option.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Minnesota Wild Reassign Devin Shore
Feb. 12th: Indirectly confirming yesterday’s report, the Wild announced they’ve reassigned Shore to AHL Iowa meaning he’s successfully cleared waivers. Depending on the recovery timelines for Kirill Kaprizov and Jakub Lauko, Minnesota will likely need another forward or two when play resumes on February 22nd.
Feb. 11th: According to a report from PuckPedia, the Minnesota Wild have placed depth forward Devin Shore on waivers to reassign him to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. It is the fourth time the Wild have placed Shore on waivers this season.
Minnesota chose to waive Shore just six days before he would have required them for reassignment. With his next NHL game not scheduled until February 22nd, the move presented a timely opportunity for the Wild to manage their salary cap.
Despite the four waiver placements, the 10-year NHL veteran has spent most of the year in Minnesota. He’s scored one goal and two assists in 34 games averaging 8:28 of ice time per night in a fourth-line role. His multiple passes through waivers have given him considerable action with AHL Iowa, scoring two goals and 10 points in 14 games this year.
Given his $775K salary, the transaction won’t offer significant cap savings, but the Wild deemed the move worthwhile. If he clears waivers over the next 24 hours, Minnesota could recall Shore on February 21 or 22, giving them another 30 days or 10 games on the active roster before requiring waivers again.
Kraken’s Mitchell Stephens Clears Waivers, Victor Ostman Recalled
2/10: Kraken forawrd Mitchell Stephens has cleared waivers, per a team report.
2/9: The Seattle Kraken announced a trio of roster moves on Sunday. Most notably, the team has placed forward Mitchell Stephens on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the minor leagues. Stephens has appeared in Seattle’s last 16 games. He contributed two points, six penalty minutes, and a minus-four while averaging just north of nine minutes in ice time. Seattle also reassigned defenseman Cale Fleury and goaltender Ales Stezka to the AHL, and recalled goaltender Victor Ostman from the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks.
Seattle does not play again until February 22nd, likely indicating that the moves of Stephens, Fleury, and Stezka are headed for AHL playing time during the 4-Nations Face-Off break. Ostman has been recalled to keep the team roster-compliant, and could be in store for an impromptu vacation while the team takes the next two weeks off. Ostman is playing in his rookie professional season this year, after spending the last four seasons vying for the starting role at the University of Maine. He’s performed well in his first pro games, already winning out the Mavericks’ starting role with an impressive 18-7-4 record and .905 save percentage in 29 games played. Ostman is playing in front of seasoned pro Jack LaFontaine, who has a 10-4-1 record and .904 Sv% in 16 games.
While Ostman questions what warm destination he’ll spend the next two weeks in, the Kraken will hold their breath to see if Stephens stays with the club while passing through waivers. He’s been a career depth-forward, alternating between the NHL and AHL lineups over the last six seasons. That stretch started in the 2019-20 season when Stephens made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then had his name etched into the Stanley Cup just a few months later. He recorded six points, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-nine in 38 games as an NHL rookie – with all four stats still standing as career-highs. Stephens has played in 82 NHL games in parts of four seasons since then, but only managed 13 points. He’s been far more productive in the minors, totaling 92 points in 139 AHL games since the start of the 2020-21 season. Stephens will get a chance to return to his AHL productivity, should he pass through waivers unclaimed.