NHL Hockey Player News

Adam Ruzicka(C)|ARI
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Arizona is expected to waive Adam Ruzicka for the purposes of contract termination.

Ruzicka made his Coyotes debut on February 12th and has played three games with the team since being claimed on waivers from the Calgary Flames earlier this month. In 42 games this season, the Slovak-born Ruzicka has nine points (3G / 6A). He is expected to have his contract terminated upon clearing waivers.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2024-02-23T18:23:41.094Z
Adam Ruzicka
Colin White(C)|SJS
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Pittsburgh has placed Colin White on waivers on Wednesday.

White has been with Pittsburgh since the beginning of January but has been placed on waivers with the intention of being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL). White played 11 games with Pittsburgh this season and failed to register a point.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2024-02-21T19:41:57.716Z
Colin White
Rem Pitlick(C)|FA
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Pitlick has been placed on waivers on Wednesday by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Pitlick has regularly been a healthy scratch the last couple of weeks, playing only one of the last five games for the Blackhawks. In nine games this season, Pitlick has zero points, 13 shots, and nine hits while averaging 15:35 time-on-ice.

Source:
Elliote Friedman 2024-02-14T19:14:05.636Z
Rem Pitlick
Luke Philp(C)|WAS
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Philp has been placed on waivers by Chicago after recovering from a successful Achilles surgery in August.

Philp had the potential to make the Blackhawks' opening night roster but was placed on the injured reserve after undergoing Achilles surgery in the offseason. The 27-year-old forward appeared in three games for Chicago in 2022-23 and picked up an assist and two PIMs. He played the majority of last season in Rockford, where he had 29 goals, 53 points and a +17 plus/minus in 60 games played.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2024-02-13T19:10:53.253Z
Luke Philp
Tyler Pitlick(C)|BOS
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Pitlick has been placed on waivers by the New York Rangers on Tuesday.

After playing five straight for the Rangers, Pitlick was a healthy scratch on Monday before being placed on waivers on Tuesday. Adam Edstrom replaced Pitlick in the lineup on Monday. In 34 games this season, Pitlick has four points (1G / 3A) while averaging 10:12 time-on-ice.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2024-02-13T19:09:22.386Z
Tyler Pitlick
Nolan Stevens(C)|DET
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Stevens has cleared waivers and had his contract terminated.

Stevens and the Red Wings have agreed to mutually part ways which has led to the 27-year-old to clear waivers and have his contract terminated. The center was a fifth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft (125th) by the St. Louis Blues and had 11 points (3G/8A) in 31 games played with Grand Rapids (AHL) this season.

Source:
Tyler Kuehl 2024-02-12T21:49:19.302Z
Nolan Stevens
Maxwell Willman(C)|NJD
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Willman has been placed on waivers by the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.

Willman has not played the last two games for the Devils and has been placed on waivers, likely to make space to recall a netminder in response to Vitek Vanecek dealing with an injury. The 28-year-old Willman has two points (1G / 1A) in 13 games with the Devils this season.

Source:
James Nichols 2024-02-12T17:04:59.180Z
Maxwell Willman
Leon Gawanke(D)|SJS
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
Gawanke has been placed on unconditional waivers and will have his contract terminated.

Gawanke has spent the entirety of the season with the San Jose Baracuda of the AHL, tallying 27 points (8G / 19A) in 38 games. The 24-year-old was the fifth-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He will return to Germany and will play for Adler Mannheim.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2024-02-08T21:33:56.376Z
Leon Gawanke
Nick Bonino(C)|NYR
Waiver Move
Waiver Move
New York has placed Nick Bonino on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

The 35-year-old Bonino was averaging 12:15 time-on-ice this season and had been held off the scoresheet in 14 straight games. Assuming he goes unclaimed, the veteran forward will be a free agent after his contract is terminated by the Rangers.

Source:
Chris Johnston 2024-02-06T19:40:37.920Z
Nick Bonino

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.