Nashville Predators place Liam Foudy on waivers

The Nashville Predators have placed center Liam Foudy on waivers to send him to the AHL to play for the Milwaukee Admirals.

Foudy, 23, is on waivers for the second time this season, as he was placed on there at the start of the regular season after playing just one game with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s not known how many other teams also placed a claim for Foudy besides Nashville, as they were only 16th in waiver priority at the time, so any of the sixteen teams below them could have also made a claim. Whether any of those other teams place a claim again, or if the Blue Jackets try to get Foudy back, will determine whether or not Foudy makes it to Milwaukee.

Foudy has been somewhat productive this season, with three assists in 13 games, although that’s only on pace for 18 assists in a full 82-game season. Despite not being able to consistently produce in the NHL so far in his career, he’s been effective at drawing penalties and not taking them himself since entering the league in 2019, with a 0.126 penalty goals above replacement that’s tied for 22nd among forwards with 1000 minutes in that span.

Foudy was the 18th overall pick for the Blue Jackets in the 2018 NHL Draft, and had spent parts of six professional seasons with the Blue Jackets organization before the Preds claimed him on waivers this season. He’s in the final year of his two-year contract with a $762,500 cap hit and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the 2024 offseason.

The Predators are also sending center Mark Jankowski to the AHL, however he doesn’t need to go through waivers since he cleared them during training camp. He has one goal in two games with the Predators, as well as three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 17 games in the AHL with the Admirals.

The Predators will look to add to their back-to-back wins on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 8 p.m. EST. They currently sit in sixth in the Central Division with a 13-12-0 record and are one point out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.