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Edmonton Oilers Sign Jason Demers

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The Edmonton Oilers announced that they have signed defenseman Jason Demers to a one-year, two-way contract. After signing Demers, the Oilers have placed him on waivers for the purposes of loaning him to the Bakersfield Condors, their AHL affiliate. The contract is worth $750,000 at the NHL level, which is the league minimum. The move comes one day before the NHL’s temporary roster freeze takes effect.

For Demers, the contract should give him a much clearer path to an NHL job this season after not playing in the league since 2020-21. Unless he’s claimed on waivers, the signing, waiving, and loan to Bakersfield will more or less be a formality for the veteran, who has been playing with the Condors this season, tallying nine points and 32 penalty minutes in 24 games. Demers had actually been in training camp with Edmonton this preseason and impressed in that time, but salary cap constraints prevented the organization from giving him an NHL deal until now.

In the case of the Oilers, signing the 34-year-old should, if he clears, give them more reliable depth on the backend and a player they know they can trust if and when he gets into the lineup. Although their jobs certainly are in no danger, the Oilers have had some glaring issues defensively this week, headlined by Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard. For now, nothing will change on the ice for Edmonton or Bakersfield, but the team will be able to recall Demers at a moment’s notice when they feel the timing is right.

Montreal Canadiens Loan Rem Pitlick To AHL

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The Montreal Canadiens announced that they have loaned forward Rem Pitlick to the Laval Rocket, their AHL affiliate. In a related move, the team has also recalled forward Anthony Richard from Laval. Pitlick has bounced around between Montreal and Laval plenty this season, while this will be Richard’s first call-up since clearing waivers and being assigned to the Rocket back on October 5th.

Pitlick, 25, has done his best to ensure the shuffle hasn’t held him back too much this season. The forward has six points through nine games with Laval thus far, though he has just one point, a goal, in 14 games with Montreal. Still, the former Nashville Predators draft pick hasn’t been able to repeat his production from last season, where he had 15 goals and 22 assists over 66 games between Montreal and the Minnesota Wild.

Also a former Predators draft pick, Richard, who turns 26 on Tuesday, has dominated the AHL thus far this season, recording 31 points in 26 games, on pace to eclipse his previous career-high in the league of 47, recorded over 73 games back in 2018-19. Should he get into action for the Canadiens, it would be the Quebec native’s first action with the Canadiens and first NHL games since he played a single game with the Predators in 2019-20.

Brad Malone Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Malone has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.  He has been assigned to AHL Bakersfield while Foegele has been activated off injured reserve.

Friday: The Edmonton Oilers have placed Brad Malone on waivers after being scratched for last night’s game.

Malone was replaced by James Hamblin, who ended up playing just over five minutes as the Oilers once again relied heavily on their top six. The reason for the waiving, though, is likely the imminent return of Warren Foegele, which will give the team a more reliable option.

Foegele has been out since November 26 and was averaging a little more than 12 minutes on the year. While that may not sound like a lot, the way the Oilers deploy their forwards makes it relatively significant. Last night, for instance, Hamblin, Derek Ryan, Jesse Puljujarvi, Devin Shore, Klim Kostin, and Dylan Holloway each played fewer than 11 minutes, while Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl approached 30.

Malone, in his ten games with the Oilers this season, hasn’t scored a point. Should he clear, the 33-year-old will return to the Bakersfield Condors, where he serves as captain. Despite more than 200 games of NHL experience, he is an unlikely claim even for clubs looking at reinforcing their bottom six.

Axel Rindell Clears Unconditional Waivers

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Dec 16: Rindell has cleared and will have his contract terminated. He is expected to join Timra IK for the rest of the season.

Dec 15: The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Axel Rindell on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets. The move would allow Rindell to pursue other opportunities as a free agent, and clear a contract slot for the Maple Leafs, who are currently at the limit of 50.

Rindell, 22, was a sixth-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2020 that signed his entry-level contract last spring. After three rather successful seasons in Finnish professional hockey, it looked like the team might have had another depth option on their hands.

None of the success that Rindell had overseas has materialized in North America, however, and he was seeing time with the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL. In six AHL games, the right-shot defenseman had no points, and will now likely go back to continue his development in Europe.

That doesn’t mean his career is over on this side of the pond, but the contract slot is much more valuable to the Maple Leafs than the potential he was showing.

Toronto has been unable to do things like claim a player off waivers and would have been forced to even up contracts in any trade. Critically, it also would have potentially stopped them from signing a prospect like Matthew Knies at the end of the college season. With that in mind, it is likely that you will see the Maple Leafs clear a few more at some point, whether through deadline deals or additional terminations.

Dysin Mayo Clears Waivers

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Dec 13: While Kuhlman was claimed by the Winnipeg Jets, Mayo has cleared, according to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports. The defenseman is expected to be assigned to the AHL.

Dec 12: Two more players have hit waivers today, as Dysin Mayo of the Arizona Coyotes and Karson Kuhlman of the Seattle Kraken are available for claim, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets.

Mayo, 26, was one of the best stories from last season. After grinding for five seasons in the minor leagues, the fifth-round pick finally made it to the NHL and played in 67 games for the Coyotes, racking up 12 points and averaging nearly 21 minutes a night. While the results weren’t great, he was given absolutely brutal deployment against the other team’s best nearly every night and managed to put together a respectable rookie season.

This year, with other options in place, Mayo has slipped down the depth chart and out of the lineup entirely. For a five-game stretch in November, he failed to reach even nine minutes of ice time. Now, he is likely headed to the minor leagues given a waiver claim would be surprising. Not necessarily because of his skill, but because of the three-year extension that the Coyotes gave him in February, hoping to lock up a breakout player. Mayo will carry a cap hit of $950K through the 2024-25 season.

Kuhlman, meanwhile, is being pushed off the roster by the incoming Eeli Tolvanen, who the Kraken claimed today. The 27-year-old forward has three points in 14 games so far this season and has played very sparingly of late. In his last appearance, Kuhlman was given just six shifts. On a one-way deal worth $825K, he too seems an unlikely candidate to be claimed off waivers.

Winnipeg Jets Claim Karson Kuhlman

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The Winnipeg Jets have claimed Karson Kuhlman off waivers from the Seattle Kraken. Kuhlman ended up on waivers after Seattle claimed Eeli Tolvanen yesterday.

The move to add the depth forward comes after Jets head coach Rick Bowness was very clear about his frustration with the bottom of his lineup. Speaking with Murat Ates of The Athletic, he explained:

I’m not happy with that fourth line at all. Last game they had two goals against and they’re not generating anything. We’re going to give it a different look tonight.

That different look is with the recalled Kevin Stenlund centering but soon could mean Kuhlman’s addition as well. The 27-year-old has played in 114 games at the NHL level – 14 of them with Seattle this season – and has 26 points. A player that brings a lot of energy, he also has connections to some other Jets from his time in college, where he played with Dylan Samberg, Neal Pionk, and Dominic Toninato.

With the claim, the Jets will take on Kuhlman’s $825K salary and fill up their roster to the maximum of 23 players. Seattle would have been able to bury his entire cap hit in the minors, but given the deal is one-way, would have been on the hook to pay him the full salary even if Kuhlman was assigned to the AHL.

Seattle Kraken Claim Eeli Tolvanen

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As expected, Eeli Tolvanen’s time with the Nashville Predators is over (at least for now). The former top prospect has been claimed off waivers by the Seattle Kraken, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Given Seattle’s place in the standings, quite a few teams passed on the chance to take the 23-year-old sniper. Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside tweets that the Predators’ front office was “pretty confident” that Tolvanen would clear, likely because of the $1.45MM cap hit that Seattle will be taking on in full. Signed to a three-year, $4.35MM deal in 2021, Tolvanen has just two goals and four points this season in 13 games. He hasn’t played since November 19, and even then was seeing limited minutes.

Expansion clubs are often where a player can rejuvenate their career, though, and perhaps the Kraken can do it for Tolvanen, the 30th overall pick in 2017. A rather similar player, Daniel Sprong, had experienced his own rollercoaster ride through waivers and trades before arriving in Seattle, where he seems to have found a home with 15 points in 20 games so far this season.

There is no shortage of skill in Tolvanen, who possesses one of the hardest shots in the league and has scored at every level – including the NHL. In his rookie season, he had 11 goals and 22 points in just 40 games, totals that were only barely matched in his sophomore year.

It is important to remember that several teams could not have claimed Tolvanen because of cap space, and the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t have a contract slot available. Still, it is somewhat surprising that he reached the Kraken, who were 23rd in line.

Eeli Tolvanen Placed On Waivers

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According to TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Nashville Predators have placed former top prospect Eeli Tolvanen on waivers this afternoon. While the merits of putting the once-elite prospect on waivers could be debated, the move is also interesting in that it comes roughly an hour after the team learned it would be losing forward Michael McCarron for an indefinite period of time as he enters the Players Assistance Program. No corresponding move related to either player, has been announced at this point.

The 30th overall selection in 2017 by Nashville, Tolvanen quickly became one of the game’s more exciting prospects in short order. Considered a pure sniper, the winger was expected to change the face of Nashville’s offense and add a compliment to already-established stars like Filip Forsberg, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Johansen. Now 23, Tolvanen hasn’t exactly been a bad NHLer, but hasn’t lived up to the hype that had been surrounding him when he came into the league. This season, the forward has four points, two goals and two assists, in 13 games. For his 135 game NHL career, he has 25 goals and 26 assists.

Seeing a player with Tolvanen’s career path hit waivers surely isn’t unprecedented, however some may argue that the decision feels a bit soon, given his age and especially his track record of performance at the NHL level. In other words, though he’s not the player many were hoping for, he has shown he can certainly play at this level and at 23, there could be room to grow from it. Tolvanen’s placement does feel similar to the New York Islanders waiving of Kieffer Bellows earlier this year. Once one of their top prospects, Bellows put up 19 points in 45 games last season, then after suiting up for one game with the Islanders in 2022-23, was placed on waivers, claimed by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Five Players Clear Waivers

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Dec 9: All five players have cleared, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Rooney, Benson, Kaut, and Carpenter can now be assigned to the minor leagues, while Berglund’s contract will be terminated.

Dec 8: It’s a busy Thursday on the waiver wire, as Kevin Rooney of the Calgary Flames, Tyler Benson of the Edmonton Oilers, Martin Kaut of the Colorado Avalanche, and Ryan Carpenter of the New York Rangers are all available for claim, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Boston Bruins defenseman Victor Berglund has also been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination.

Rooney, 29, has not worked out quite as well as the Flames had hoped when they signed him to a two-year, $2.6MM contract in July. After scoring six goals and 12 points in 61 games last season for the New York Rangers, the depth forward has just a single assist in 17 matches for Calgary.

With today’s recall of Matthew Phillips, it appears as though the Flames will go in a different direction for their bottom six. Rooney’s contract will likely keep him from being claimed, though, meaning he can stay with the organization and try to get his game back on track. By moving him to the minor leagues, $1.125MM of his $1.3MM cap hit would come off the books.

For Benson, it’s not quite so rosy. The 24-year-old has played two games with the Oilers this season, barely seen the ice during them, and has no contract security past this year. The 32nd overall pick from 2016 has never been able to stick in the NHL despite strong numbers in the minor leagues, and appears to be a potential non-tender candidate next summer as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent.

Kaut, 23, already cleared waivers at the beginning of this season, but had landed a regular spot in the Colorado lineup since and needed them again to go back to the minor leagues. The 2018 first-round pick has three points in 18 games this year, and was on the ice for multiple goals against in last night’s 4-0 loss to the Bruins.

The Avalanche haven’t been able to find any mix of depth forwards they are happy with, and continue to make changes on a near-daily basis. Kaut’s waiver placement doesn’t necessarily mean he’s headed back down, given all of the injuries they have. He also could be claimed, given his relatively young age and draft pedigree.

Carpenter, like Rooney, hasn’t been able to find the same level of play he had last season with his new team. The Rangers forward has just three points in 21 games and has become a fringe option, moving in and out of the lineup. Even with his familiarity with head coach Gerrard Galant, the Rangers can’t keep putting Carpenter out there without some more consistent play.

Berglund, 23, was picked 195th overall in 2017 and signed his entry-level deal in 2020. It is set to expire at the end of the year and he has barely played this season, meaning the two sides are just splitting a little early so he can chase a job somewhere else. The Swedish defenseman will be an unrestricted free agent and is likely headed back to Europe.

Evgeny Svechnikov, Dominic Toninato Clear Waivers

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Dec 7: Both players have cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.

Dec 6: Two more forwards have hit waivers today, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Evgeny Svechnikov of the San Jose Sharks and Dominic Toninato of the Winnipeg Jets are available for claim.

The former’s placement is especially curious, given the Sharks just placed Matt Nieto on injured reserve today, recalling C.J. Suess to take his place. Svechnikov played a season-high 16:26 in the team’s most recent game, and has six points in 20 appearances this year. The older brother of Carolina Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov, the 26-year-old finally saw regular NHL action last season, playing in 72 games with the Winnipeg Jets and scoring 19 points.

Toninato, meanwhile, cleared waivers in October, but has spent enough time on the active roster to need it again if the Jets want to assign him to the minor leagues. The 28-year-old has played in just four games, registering a single point. Like Svechnikov, he too was a regular in the Winnipeg lineup last season, scoring 14 points in 77 games.

Both players come with cap hits of the league minimum $750K.

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