The Toronto Maple Leafs and the six other teams that placed players on the waiver wire can now assign them to their AHL affiliates, as all 12 players have cleared waivers.
The Maple Leafs took the biggest risk, sending veteran center David Kampf and his $2.4 million cap hit to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. The Boston Bruins accounted for five of the 12 players on waivers, sending Victor Soderstrom, Michael Callahan, Riley Tufte, Geogrii Merkulov and Patrick Brown to the Providence Bruins.
PuckPedia reported the news.
Seven NHL teams also placed a combined 17 players on waivers, according to PuckPedia. Here's that list.
- Dallas: Cameron Hughes, Vladislav Kolyachonok
- Florida: Tobias Bjornfot, Brandon Bussi
- New Jersey: Thomas Bordeleau, Angus Crookshank, Brian Halonen, Zack MacEwen, Colton White
- Philadelphia: Dennis Gilbert
- Pittsburgh: Alexander Alexeyev, Ryan Graves, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Bokondji Imama, Samuel Poulin
- San Jose: Colin White
- Utah: Cameron Hebig
Graves hits the waiver wire on year three of a six-year contract carrying a $4.5 million cap hit. The 30-year-old has struggled in his time with the Peguins, recording just one goal and four points in 61 games last season. Once a prominent figure on the bluelines of the Colorado Avalanche and the New Jersey Devils could be on his way to the AHL.
Bordeleau, 23, was a second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in 2020 but has struggled to break through into the NHL. In the off-season, the Sharks sent Bordeleau to the Devils in exchange for Shane Bowers.
MacEwen, another Devils player to hit the waiver wire, was involved in a trade just yesterday, as he was moved from the Ottawa Senators to the Devils in exchange for Curtis MacDermid. The 29-year-old enforcer played 21 games with the Senators last year.
Bjornfot was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2019 but has yet to lock down a role on an NHL club. He's with his third franchise and will likely spend the season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers, the Florida Panthers' AHL affiliate. The 24-year-old has 134 games in his NHL career.
For each player, the 31 other NHL teams can submit a claim for them by 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. Otherwise, their teams can assign them to the minors. And if any of the squads that did claim a player places them back on waivers, their initial team can still claim them.
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