NHL Hockey Player News

Eeli Tolvanen(RW)|SEA
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Kraken have claimed Eeli Tolvanen off of waivers from the Predators.

Tolvanen has two goals and two assists (four points) in 13 games with the Predators this season. Since being selected No.30 overall in 2017, Tolvanen has picked up 51 points (25G / 26A) in 135 career NHL games. To make room for Tolvanen, the Kraken waived Karson Kuhlman.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2022-12-12T19:09:42.145Z
Eeli Tolvanen
Magnus Hellberg(G)|DAL
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Red Wings have claimed Magnus Hellberg off of waivers from the Kraken.

Detroit will be Hellbergs third NHL team this season after playing one game between both Ottawa and Seattle where he won after stopping 29 of 31 shots (.935 SV%). The 31-year-old veteran has six career NHL games and has won three of them.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2022-11-23T19:32:11.197Z
Magnus Hellberg
Magnus Hellberg(G)|DAL
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Magnus Hellberg was claimed off of waivers by the Seattle Kraken Thursday.

Hellberg was with the Kraken to start the season before getting claimed by Ottawa and got to appear in one game where he won, stopping 29 of 31 shots (.935 SV%) as he picked up his third career win against Dallas on October 24th. The 31-year-old will head to Seattle who is dealing with an injury to Philipp Grubauer between the pipes.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2022-11-10T19:16:51.948Z
Magnus Hellberg
Nicolas Aube-Kubel(RW)|NYR
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Capitals claimed Nicolas Aube-Kubel on waivers from the Maple Leafs.

Aube-Kubel failed to register a point in six games in the Maple Leafs' bottom-6. He's heading to his fourth team in under a year, moving from Philadelphia to Colorado via waivers on November 13th, 2021. He signed with the Maple Leafs this summer and was claimed by Washington on Saturday. He will help replace Carl Hagelin, who hasn't played this season and Beck Malenstyn, who's out 6-to-8 weeks with a broken finger.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2022-11-07T03:39:05.168Z
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Kieffer Bellows(LW)|NSH
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Flyers have claimed Kieffer Bellows off waivers from the Islanders.

Bellows was the No.19 overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft but had a hard time finding a permanent spot in the Islanders lineup. He appeared in 45 NHL games with them last season, scoring six goals and 13 assists (19 points). The 24-year-old will help replace James van Riemsdyk, who is out long-term with a hand injury.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2022-10-27T18:15:01.659Z
Kieffer Bellows
Lukas Sedlak(C)|PHI
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Flyers have claimed Lukas Sedlak on waivers from the Avalanche.

Sedlak came back to North American after three years in the KHL and was a plus-1 in his first three games with the Avalanche. He was waived on Tuesday and is headed to Philadelphia after being claimed on Wednesday. Sedlak will likely replace Jackson Cates in the Flyers' bottom-6 moving forward.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2022-10-19T18:09:59.833Z
Lukas Sedlak
Jonas Johansson(G)|TBL
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Jonas Johansson was claimed by the Colorado Avalanche after being placed on Waivers by Arizona Tuesday

The 27-year-old Swedish netminder returns to the Colorado Avalanche just weeks after being waived and subsequently claimed by Arizona originally. He has struggled in his previous two seasons with the Avalanche amassing a .895 SV% and 2.90 GAA through 17 games played. Due to the Avs reclaiming Johansson, he is eligible to be sent down to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.

Source:
Elliott Friedman 2022-10-12T18:27:43.236Z
Jonas Johansson
Brett Leason(RW)|ANA
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Ducks have claimed Brett Leason off of waivers from the Capitals.

Leason was a second-round pick (No.56 overall) in 2019 and split his 2022 season between the AHL and NHL. During his time with the Capitals, the 6-foot-5, 218 lbs. winger had three goals and three assists in 36 games. Leason will likely battle Pavol Regenda for a bottom-6 role with the Ducks.

Source:
Frank Seravalli 2022-10-10T19:31:03.562Z
Brett Leason
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby(LW)|WPG
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Jets have claimed Axel Jonsson-Fjallby off of waivers from the Capitals.

Jonsson-Fjallby was a fifth-round pick in 2016 and split his 2022 season between the AHL and NHL. During his time with the Capitals, Jonsson-Fjallby had two goals and two assists in 23 games. He will likely battle with Dominic Toninato and Morgan Barron for playing time in the Jets' bottom-6.

Source:
Frank Seravalli 2022-10-10T19:28:48.232Z
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
Jarred Tinordi(D)|CAL
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Blackhawks have claimed Jarred Tinordi off of waivers from the Rangers.

Tinordi was with the Rangers last season but only appeared in seven NHL games, spending most of the year in the AHL (32 GP). The 30-year-old defenseman will provide some toughness and depth to the Blackhawks' blueline, but he likely won't have a regular role early in the season.

Source:
Frank Seravalli 2022-10-10T19:26:04.889Z
Jarred Tinordi
Connor Ingram(G)|UTA
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Coyotes have claimed Connor Ingram off of waivers from the Predators.

Ingram was terrific in the AHL a season ago, going 30-17-7 with a 2.70 GAA and .915 SV% in 54 games with Milwaukee (AHL). With the Coyotes, Ingram should have no problem taking over as the No.2 behind Karel Vejmelka and should see a decent workload this season.

Source:
Frank Seravalli 2022-10-10T19:22:47.173Z
Connor Ingram
Josh Mahura(D)|SEA
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Panthers have claimed Josh Mahura off of waivers from the Ducks.

Mahura spent the entire 2022 campaign with the Ducks, scoring three goals with four assists (seven points) in 38 games. The 24-year-old blueliner has a chance to be an immediate everyday blueliner with the Panthers, as he'll battle Matt Kiersted for playing time, most likely on the third pair with Radko Gudas.

Source:
Frank Seravalli 2022-10-10T19:20:03.569Z
Josh Mahura

NHL Waiver Wire

The NHL implemented the waiver wire to uphold a “competitive balance” in the league. Before the waiver wire, clubs hoarded players and ensured their opponents couldn’t access them. Those players would get sent to the minors and basically get buried, stunting any chance for them to make a name for themselves in the big league. As you can imagine, not only was hoarding players in the minors a hindrance to other teams, but it was also a hindrance to the players themselves. Eventually, things had to change, and that’s when the NHL waiver wire came into play: no longer can a player be buried in the minors (unless nobody wants them).

Types of Waivers

Nevertheless, the NHL wavier wire can be a bit nuanced to a newcomer. Don’t worry, we break it down and do a quick deep dive into the nuts and bolts.

Regular NHL Waivers

Teams will use what NHL executives call “regular waivers” to move players to the minors. Players on entry-level contracts are usually waiver wire exempt, which means teams can send them up and down as they please without risking them being claimed by another team. Players who aren’t waiver wire exempt will usually make the headlines since they can be placed on waivers. Most players playing in the minors are waiver wire exempt. That’s why they get sent up and down so freely throughout the course of a season. Obviously, it’s on a case-by-case basis.

Return Waivers

“Re-entry waivers” used to exist before the NHL and the NHLPA eliminated the clause in the 2012 collective bargaining agreement. The clause was originally put in place because some teams would bury players in the minors, hoping they would pick up their game a bit and call them back up. If such a great thing happened, the team could call them back up without penalty. Too many teams learned to hoard players, so to encourage fairness and do right by the players, the return or “re-entry waivers process” was implemented. When ironing out a new CBA, both sides wanted to tinker with the waiver wire process. A part of that tinkering was getting rid of “re-entry waivers.”

Unconditional Waivers

When a team puts a player on unconditional waivers, it’s usually because the team wants to terminate their contract or buy them out. A contract termination can come about because a player breached their contract. In other words, as a disciplinary action. The more common form is a buyout. The player didn’t breach their contract; it’s just the management most likely determined the player sucks and wants to get rid of as much of the player’s cap hit as humanly possible.

A Quick Word On One and Two-Way Contracts

There’s a common misconception that NHL fans make when referring to one and two-way contracts. What some fans think is if a player is on a one-way deal, they can’t be sent to the minors without going through waivers. Players who are signed to two-way deals can be sent back and forth to the minors freely. Without getting too far into the nuts and bolts, that’s not always the case. You can blame EA Sports’ “Be A GM” mode for that belief.

Generally, a one-way deal ensures that players’ salaries remain the same whether they’re in the minors or the NHL. For example, if a goalie makes $3.55 million in the NHL and gets sent down to the AHL because he couldn’t stop a beach ball, he’ll still make the full $3.55 million in the minors. A player who’s on a two-way contract makes a higher salary in the NHL and a lower one in the AHL. One and two-way deals don’t solely determine waiver wire eligibility.

Time Restrictions Around NHL Waivers

The waiver wire goes into effect 12 days before the start of the regular season and lasts until the day after a team’s regular season is over. Any moves after that are more or less off the books unless certain conditions are met. Then, things get tricky.

When a player gets put on the waiver wire, there’s a 24-hour period where other NHL teams can determine if they want to take a shot on the player and their contract. If a team wants to take a leap of faith and claim the forsaken player, they must wait and see which other teams make a claim. If the worst team in the league (based on the current standings and future projections) makes a claim and the best team also bites on the waived player, the worst team will get the player in the name of “fairness.”

It’s not very often that many teams make a claim on a single player because most teams use the waiver wire to clear cap space. That said, it does happen once or twice a season when a good team is forced to make a tough decision on a decent player.

Strategy Behind NHL Waivers

There are many reasons why NHL transactions will revolve around waiver wire moves. Below, we compiled those reasons and sought to explain the strategy behind each.

Salary Cap

As we alluded to earlier, most players are put on waivers because they’re not living up to their contracts. The front office of the team they play for wants to bury the contract in the minors to open up room for someone who’s worth the money. It’s a harsh truth, but the NHL is a business, and everyone is always looking for a good return on investment. If a player sucks, sometimes that’s what needs to happen, no matter how difficult it might be to pull off.

Contract Termination

For players who are on longer deals, burying them in the minors for the duration of their contract might not be worthwhile. It might just be easier to buy them out or even terminate their contract. Most of the time, when a player gets bought out, the team buying out the player must still pay a cap penalty. That said, it’s usually preferable for NHL executives rather than eating the cap hit and being unable to bolster their team via trades and free agency.

Bad contracts in the NHL are a dime a dozen, so front offices use things like unconditional waivers to move on from their mistakes. Of course, they still take a fat L, but in the same sense, they’ll get some flexibility and a chance to move on. So too does the player.

Moves to the Minor League

At the end of the day, all an NHL general manager really wants to do is send a player to the minors because they’re underperforming. It just so happens the player isn’t waiver wire exempt, and that’s the way she goes. Mind you, in those situations, many people in the front office will know that these players are less likely to get claimed because their value is limited to other teams. In that sense, NHL front offices will feel more comfortable making those moves.

Let’s be honest, even if these players get claimed, odds are they’ll be back on the waiver wire at some point during the season, in which they can be reclaimed. If not, as crappy as this may sound, the player is replaceable.