NHL Hockey Player News

Riley Nash(C)|NYR
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Coyotes have claimed Riley Nash off of waivers from the Lightning.

The Lightning claimed Nash off of waivers from the Jets in early December and was waived Wednesday to clear room for Nikita Kucherov to return on Thursday. Nash has yet to record a point in 25 games with the Jets and Lightning this season.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2022-01-06T19:06:32.479Z
Riley Nash
Riley Nash(C)|NYR
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Lightning have claimed Riley Nash off of waivers from the Jets.

Nash played a very small role in Winnipeg, playing just 8:49 ATOI. He failed to record a single point in nine games and it's difficult to figure where he'll slot into the Lightning lineup. Perhaps they are bringing him in as a cheap ($750K AAV) reserve forward.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2021-12-07T19:12:40.309Z
Riley Nash
Adam Brooks(C)|FA
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Golden Knights have claimed Adam Brooks off of waivers from the Canadiens.

The forward-needy Golden Knights will likely plug Brooks right into their lineup on Thursday. Vegas will be Brooks' third team of the season, after previously being claimed from the Maple Leafs. He has one assist in four games this season.

Source:
Danny Webster 2021-11-17T19:31:11.027Z
Adam Brooks
Nicolas Aube-Kubel(RW)|NYR
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Avalanche have claimed Nicolas Aube-Kubel off of waivers from the Flyers.

Aube-Kubel was a second-round pick of the Flyers in 2014 and was a regular member of their team in 2020-21. The 25-year-old had 12 points (3G / 9A) in 50 games last year but was buried on the depth this year. He now heads to Colorado, where he'll likely battle with Kiefer Sherwood for a spot in the bottom-6.

Source:
Frank Seravalli 2021-11-13T19:19:53.025Z
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Dennis Cholowski(D)|NJD
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Capitals have claimed Dennis Cholowski off of waivers from Seattle.

Cholowski was selected in the Seattle Expansion Draft but was waived on Wednesday. In Washington, Cholowski will likely battle with Trevor van Riemsdyk for playing tie on the blueline. He has 10 goals and 17 assists (27 points) in 104 career NHL games (all with Detroit).

Source:
Chris Johnston 2021-10-14T18:11:41.741Z
Dennis Cholowski
Patrick Brown(C)|BOS
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Flyers have claimed Patrick Brown off waivers from the Golden Knights.

Brown found himself on the roster bubble in Vegas but gets a chance to crack the Flyers roster after being picked up off of waivers. With Kevin Hayes out to open the season, the Flyers are a little thin down the middle, which is why they added the 29-year-old Brown. He has just three points (2G / 1A) in 33 career NHL games with Carolina and Vegas.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2021-10-11T19:55:36.321Z
Patrick Brown
Alex Barré-Boulet(C)|MON
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Kraken have claimed Alex Barre-Boulet off waivers from the Lightning.

Barre-Boulet was an undrafted free agent who has put up outstanding point totals in the QMJHL and AHL. Last season he had 12 points (8G / 4A) in 10 games with Syracuse but just three goals in 15 games with the Lightning. In Seattle, he'll have a chance to make an immediate impact, especially with four forwards on the COVID-19 protocol list to open the season.

Source:
Pierre LeBrun 2021-10-11T19:51:49.061Z
Alex Barré-Boulet
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby(LW)|WPG
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
The Capitals have claimed Axel Jonsson-Fjallby off waivers from the Sabres.

Jonsson-Fjallby was claimed off of waivers by the Sabres last week but quickly returns to Washington. The Capitals were the only team to put a claim in for Jonsson-Fjallby, so he was eligible to be sent to the AHL. The 23-year-old winger had 10 goals and five assists (15 points) in 31 games with Hershey last season.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2021-10-11T19:49:59.240Z
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby

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.