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Lightning, Lukas Svejkovsky Mutually Terminate Contract

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Oct. 30: Svejkovsky cleared waivers, per Friedman. As a result, he’s assumedly terminated his contract.

Oct. 29: The Lightning placed forward Lukas Svejkovsky on unconditional waivers today, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Assuming he clears tomorrow, he’ll have his contract mutually terminated.

Svejkovsky, 22, is a new addition to the Lightning organization. A fourth-round pick of the Penguins in 2020, Tampa Bay acquired Svejkovsky from the Penguins for similarly buried depth forward Bennett MacArthur in late June.

Born in Tampa while his father, Jaroslav Svejkovský, was playing for the Lightning, Lukas has just one goal through four games with AHL Syracuse this season. He spent most of 2023-24 in the ECHL with the Penguins’ affiliate in Wheeling, where he impressed with 37 points in 30 games. However, he simply hasn’t managed to break through to the AHL level full-time – he had only four points in 19 games during an audition with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season.

While also a Czech national, Svejkovsky has spent his entire hockey career in North America. He played in the British Columbia prep and junior system before playing major junior hockey with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, Medicine Hat Tigers and Seattle Thunderbirds from 2018 to 2022.

If he clears waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow and could sign with any NHL, AHL/ECHL, or European club. With Jaroslav now working as an assistant coach for the Canucks, there might be a home for him back in Vancouver somewhere in the organization, potentially a two-way deal with AHL Abbotsford.

Svejkovsky was in the final season of his entry-level contract. The Lightning already paid him a $92.5K signing bonus for this season, and he was earning a salary of $80K while on assignment to Syracuse.

Wild Reassign Graeme Clarke

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Oct. 30: Clarke cleared waivers and will be assigned to AHL Iowa, per Friedman.

Oct. 29: The Wild have activated winger Graeme Clarke from season-opening injured reserve and placed him on waivers to assign him to AHL Iowa, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

Clarke, 23, was a third-round pick of the Devils in 2019. The right-winger made his NHL debut last season for New Jersey, going without a point and posting a -2 rating in three contests. Slated to become a restricted free agent last summer, the Devils traded his signing rights to Minnesota in exchange for pending RFA Adam Beckman in June. Clarke went on to sign a two-way deal with the Wild ($800K/$105K) the following month.

The older brother of Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke had an All-Star campaign in the AHL last season with the Devils’ affiliate in Utica, leading them in goals with 25 and adding 24 assists for 49 points in 67 games. The 6’0″, 174-lb winger posted 149 points in 218 career minor-league appearances in the New Jersey organization in parts of four seasons.

There may be some interest in Clarke’s services, given his back-to-back 25-goal campaigns in the minors, but it’s likelier than not that he’ll clear waivers tomorrow without incident. If so, he’ll be a major boon to a weak Minnesota minor-league system. Funnily enough, Iowa and Utica are the only remaining winless teams in the AHL. Through seven games, Iowa is 0-6-1 and has been outscored 36-18.

Clarke will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer. He sustained an undisclosed injury late in Minnesota’s exhibition schedule, landing him on SOIR.

Lightning Reassign Gabriel Fortier

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Oct. 28: Fortier cleared waivers and will head to Syracuse, per PuckPedia.

Oct. 27: The Tampa Bay Lightning have placed forward Gabriel Fortier on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Fortier started the year on the non-rostered injury list after surgery to address an unspecified injury this off-season. His mention on the transaction log indicates a return could be imminent.

It’d be a surprise to see Fortier head anywhere other than the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, where he’s spent the bulk of the last four seasons. He recorded 26 points, split evenly, in Syracuse’s middle-six last season – continuing a trend of decreasing scoring since a career-high 35 points in 2021-22. He’s proven a stout minor-league forward over the years but hasn’t yet translated to the top flight, with just one goal in 11 career NHL games.

Fortier was far more productive across six total seasons in the QMJHL. He found his scoring touch quick – with 11 goals and 17 points in 25 games at age 17 and 26 goals and 59 points in 66 games at 18. The bulk of that scoring was earned by smart positioning and strong shooting. Tampa Bay bought those traits with the 59th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, though Fortier would stick around the QMJHL through the next three seasons. He totaled 236 games and 230 points in the league and served one-year stints as captain for both Baie-Comeau and Moncton. Fortier will continue his search for similar stability at the pro level once he clears waivers and, likely, heads back to the minor leagues.

Riley Tufte Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Tufte has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.

Friday: The Bruins have placed winger Riley Tufte on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

It’s no surprise, given how sparsely the 26-year-old has played to start the season. Signed to a one-way, league-minimum deal in the offseason, Tufte made the opening night roster but has been scratched six times in eight games to start the year. When in the lineup, the 6’6″, 230-lb winger has made little impact, posting a -1 rating and three hits while averaging 8:08 per game. He’s yet even to record a shot attempt.

A first-round pick of the Stars back in 2016, Tufte has just 20 NHL appearances to his name with Dallas, Colorado, and Boston, scoring twice and adding an assist. He’s coming off a career-best 23 goals and 45 points in the minors with AHL Colorado last year, adding 91 PIMs in 67 appearances. The Bruins thought that production might translate into him being an effective fourth-line energy piece on a semi-everyday basis, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

As such, the Bruins will open up a roster spot one way or another tomorrow, whether Tufte clears and is sent to the minors or is claimed by another team. They could use that spot to sign Tyler Johnson, who was never released from his professional tryout and is still practicing with the team.

Kailer Yamamoto Clears Waivers, Utah Expected To Activate Nick Bjugstad

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Saturday: Yamamoto has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.  The team announced he has been sent to Tucson.

Friday: The Utah Hockey Club has winger Kailer Yamamoto on waivers today for the purposes of assignment to AHL Tucson, the team announced. After he clears or is claimed tomorrow, they’ll have an open roster spot to activate center Nick Bjugstad from injured reserve, per Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports.

It’s a tough break for Yamamoto, who hasn’t converted a strong training camp into a regular-season impact in Salt Lake. The 26-year-old was non-tendered by the Kraken at the end of last season and didn’t receive any guaranteed offers, instead landing a PTO with Utah for training camp. They signed him to a one-year, two-way deal the day before opening night rosters were due, and Bjugstad was slated to start the year on IR.

Even with Bjugstad out, though, there hasn’t been much opportunity for Yamamoto in the lineup. He was a healthy scratch for the first five games of the season before playing in each of Utah’s last three. He was held off the scoresheet, posting a -1 rating and taking just one shot on goal while averaging 10:40 per game.

On a two-way deal, there could be some interest in Yamamoto’s services on the waiver wire. The 2017 first-round pick is only one year removed from a 10-goal, 25-point campaign with the Oilers in 58 games, and he had a career-high 20 goals the year before that. That type of production from Yamamoto would require giving him consistent middle-six, if not top-six, minutes though, and he hasn’t done enough in the past couple of years to justify that ice time. Last year in Seattle, he averaged just under 12 minutes per game and saw his production suffer with 19 points (8 G, 8 A) in 59 games with a -9 rating.

Meanwhile, Bjugstad is set to make his season debut tomorrow against the Kings. It’s a little earlier than scheduled for his return, with a report from ALL City Network’s Craig Morgan at the beginning of the month stating he wouldn’t be back until Nov. 1.

He’ll be a boon to a Utah offense that has gone cold, scoring only twice in its last three games. The first-year club has dropped to a 4-3-1 record after a 3-0-0 start, dragged down by long-term injuries to defensemen Sean Durzi and John Marino. Bjugstad, 32, is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career, posting 22 goals and 45 points with a +11 rating in 76 appearances last season for the Coyotes.

Pavel Novák Clears Unconditional Waivers

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Saturday: Novák has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.  That will pave the way for his deal to be terminated.

Friday: The Wild have placed right-winger Pavel Novák on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, the team announced Friday. It’s likely a mutual termination.

Novák, 22, was on assignment to ECHL Iowa to begin the season, going without a point and posting a -1 rating in two games. He also spent most of last season down a level with the Heartlanders, tying for fifth on the team in scoring with 27 points (14 G, 13 A) in 44 games.

It wasn’t groundbreaking production by any stretch, especially at the ECHL level. But it was a statement campaign for Novák, who had missed all of the 2022-23 campaign while undergoing treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Minnesota 2020 fifth-round pick just lost too much development time when combined with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, and never got much of a chance to progress past the 58 points in 55 games that got him drafted out of WHL Kelowna five years ago.

The mutual termination will allow Novák to pursue professional opportunities in Europe, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. He also appeared in 13 AHL games for the Wild last season, recording two goals and an assist in 13 appearances.

Novák was in the final season of a three-year, entry-level contract worth $2.54MM that he signed back in 2022. He already earned an $80K signing bonus for this season and was earning a $75K salary while playing in the minors.

Rangers Reassign Chad Ruhwedel

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Oct. 25: Ruhwedel cleared waivers today, per Friedman. He was assigned to Hartford shortly thereafter, per the team.

Oct. 24: The Rangers have placed defenseman Chad Ruhwedel on waivers for assignment to AHL Hartford, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.

If Ruhwedel clears and is assigned to Hartford, it will be his first AHL action since the 2018-19 campaign. The 34-year-old has been on NHL rosters as a bottom-pairing/press box option for the better part of the last nine years, spending most of his professional career with the Penguins. Ruhwedel was initially an undrafted free agent signing out of UMass-Lowell by the Sabres in 2013 but spent most of his time with Buffalo in the minors before signing with the Pens in 2016.

Ruhwedel logged some AHL time with the Penguins, making 33 appearances for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton across a pair of seasons, but was otherwise an NHL fixture. A serviceable, physical right-shot defender, Ruhwedel posted 47 points and 90 PIMs with a -7 rating in 326 games for Pittsburgh, averaging 1.73 hits per game. But with the Pens slipping out of the playoff picture and his contract set to expire last summer, they traded him to the Rangers on deadline day for a 2027 fourth-round pick.

The San Diego native mostly sat in the press box down the stretch of the 2023-24 campaign. He logged five appearances for the Blueshirts, posting a -2 rating and 15 hits with one takeaway, averaging 14:08 per game. He didn’t suit up at all in the postseason.

While he was a UFA for nearly two weeks last summer, the Rangers brought Ruhwedel back on a one-year, two-way deal ($775K/$400K). He was expected to compete for a roster spot as a No. 7 defenseman, a pathway that became quite clear after Ryan Lindgren began the season on injured reserve. But with Lindgren back in the lineup and rookie Victor Mancini catching the team’s attention in a bottom-pairing role with three points in his last three games, Ruhwedel finds himself on the outside looking in.

Ruhwedel had played once in the Rangers’ six games to start the year, serving as a healthy scratch for the other five. He skated 14:04 against the Maple Leafs on Oct. 19, recording a +2 rating with four blocks and two hits.

Lightning To Reassign Conor Sheary

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Oct. 24: Sheary has cleared waivers, per Friedman. He can now be assigned to Syracuse at will, something Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports will happen in short order.

Oct. 23: The Lightning have placed winger Conor Sheary on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Syracuse, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Sheary’s time in Tampa hasn’t gone to plan since inking a three-year, $6MM contract in free agency in 2023. He missed significant time in the first half of last season with an upper-body injury and wasn’t the same after coming back, serving as a healthy scratch on several occasions later on. His four goals in 57 games were his lowest ever in a season, and his 15 points were undermined only by his 10 in 44 games with the Penguins in his rookie season in 2015-16.

Fast forward to the beginning of this season, and little has changed for the 32-year-old. He was a healthy scratch for the Lightning’s first game and has only played every other contest, going without a point and recording a -2 rating in third-line minutes alongside Michael Eyssimont and Conor Geekie. Possession quality has become an issue for the veteran, who controlled a career-low 43.5% of expected goals at even strength last season.

Sheary will likely clear waivers given the money and term left on his deal. If so, and assuming he reports to Syracuse, it will mark his first AHL action since he was part of the Penguins organization nine years ago. The preference on both sides would likely be to find a trade for Sheary, which he’d likely need to waive his 16-team no-trade list to make happen.

The Lightning can reduce Sheary’s cap hit from $2MM to $850K by stashing him in the minors.

Senators Reassign Matthew Highmore

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Oct. 22: Highmore has cleared waivers and will be on his way to Belleville, per Friedman.

Oct. 21: Senators depth forward Matthew Highmore is on the waiver wire today, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That’s a sign he’s ready to return from an upper-body injury sustained late in preseason that landed him on season-opening injured reserve.

If he clears, he’ll head to AHL Belleville. That’s where the 28-year-old spent most of last season, serving as an alternate captain while recording 31 points (9 G, 22 A) in 43 appearances. That was enough for the Sens, who initially signed Highmore to a two-way deal in free agency in the summer of 2023, to offer him a one-year extension to remain in the organization for 2024-25. The two contracts are identical, paying him $775K in the NHL and $400K in the AHL.

Highmore has 146 NHL appearances under his belt, seven of which came in an Ottawa sweater last season. He can play any forward position, although he’s stuck mainly on the wings at the game’s highest level. A fine fourth-line presence and fringe penalty killer, Highmore has 29 career points (12 G, 17 A) with a -8 rating and averaged 11:22 per game. He’s seen much more success offensively in the minors, where he’s got 59 goals and 97 assists for 156 points in 208 career AHL games. He’s also suited up for the Blackhawks, Blues, and Canucks organizations since signing as an undrafted free agent with Chicago out of QMJHL Saint John in 2017.

Per PuckPedia, the Nova Scotia native currently counts $238,151 against the cap while on SOIR. That will be wiped out tomorrow, whether he’s claimed by another team or clears waivers and is assigned to the B-Sens.

Islanders Place Julien Gauthier On Waivers

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Julien Gauthier’s short stint with the New York Islanders is now on hold. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the organization has chosen to place Gauthier on waivers for the next 24 hours, putting them at 12 healthy forwards without factoring in the late injury to Anthony Duclair last night.

To the surprise of some, Gauthier made the Islanders’ opening night roster out of camp instead of the relatively pricey Pierre Engvall. He hasn’t factored into much of the team’s success up to this point with his only game on the year coming last night against the Montreal Canadiens. He skated in 7:42 of yesterday’s game and managed two hits despite his name not finding the scoresheet.

Gauthier, who signed as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2023, is in his second year with the organization. His lack of NHL play during his time with the Islanders should make for a pass through the waiver wire by tomorrow afternoon.

He’s managed quality production in the American Hockey League, when healthy, throughout his career so there is an argument that a team could claim him to stash in the minors if they’re certain they’ll make the only claim. Gauthier’s appeared in 205 AHL contests since making his professional debut in the 2017-18 season scoring 78 goals and 115 points overall.

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