Stars’ Joel Hanley, Kings’ Aaron Dell, Penguins’ Matthew Phillips placed on waivers

A trio of players have been placed on waivers today by their respective teams. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Dallas Stars, and Los Angeles Kings have placed Matthew Phillips, Joel Hanley, and Aaron Dell on waivers, respectively.

Hanley has played 32 games this year for the Stars and put up three points in that span. He’s a depth defenseman who was re-signed by Dallas after the 2022-23 season on a two-year contract paying him $787,500 in the NHL annually. The veteran creates effectively zero offence but he’s put up solid metrics with two of his most common defence partners.

The 32-year-old played 216 minutes this season alongside Thomas Harley and together they put up a 52.8 Expected Goals Percentage. He also played 100 minutes alongside fellow veteran Ryan Suter and they put up an even better 55.1 xGoals%, albeit with a smaller sample size.

Dell was placed on waivers by the Kings for different reasons than the other two names on this list. While the other two are on waivers due to performance reasons and are set to be sent down to the AHL, Dell is actually on his way to the NHL. The 34-year-old netminder has only played five professional games this year, all with the Ontario Reign in the AHL. He didn’t even earn an NHL contract before the season began, which the Kings are going to change now.

But before that happens, Dell needs to go on waivers as a formality. His contract will almost certainly be a one-year deal at the league minimum of $775,000. And there’s no guarantee he’ll actually play any games in the NHL this year.

And finally, Matthew Phillips finds himself on the waiver wire for the second time this season. He began the year with the Washington Capitals and played 27 games for them, scoring one goal and five points. He was then claimed off waivers by the Penguins and played just three games for them before being placed on waivers yet again. It’s certainly possible that the Capitals will reclaim Phillips after a short hiatus from the team.