These aren't the types of names we usually see floating around on the waiver wire..but with just over 25 hours to go before the trade deadline there they are....:
Brendan Morrison (ANA) 1yr 2.75 mil Cougar
Gary Roberts (TBL) 1 yr 1.25 mil Cougar
Miroslav Satan (PIT) 1 yr 3.5 mil Cougar
Aaron Voros (NYR)3 yr 1.2, .9 & .9 mil Costco
The first question on everyone's mind is would the Jackets claim any of these guys? The only player I think would be of any interest to them is Brendan Morrison.
Morrison, of course, was a target of the Jackets to fill a top 6 center position during free agency. The word on the street is he spurned their offer and chose to remain on the west coast and chose Anaheim. Hey its free agency and those thing happen... I'm sure there no hard feelings on either side.
Morrison hasn't had a good year as Duck as he's struggled to recover from a torn right ACL which suffered in March of last season. He's only tallied 10g, 12a for 22p in 61 games played.
The Jackets may be attracted for three reasons. 1. He's an experienced center 2. his contract will expire after this season and 3. the price to obtain him would only be salary. All very attractive to a guy like Howson and what he's trying to accomplish as the seconds tick down. This could be a low risk/high reward move Howson is willing to act on.
I find it very interesting that these teams could not make a deal for any of these players. I mean not even a late draft pick? It shows how closely teams are watching their cap/budget space in these times.
Make no mistake about it though -- these are cost cutting (Roberts/Morrison) and cap clearing (Satan/Voros) moves. All of these guys still have something to offer as NHL players but clearly teams feel the pros of waiving goodbye outweigh the cons.
If they pass through waivers they'll most likely get buried in the AHL for the remainder of the season.
Fire away - do you think Howson puts a claim in on any of these guys?
-LTL
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7 comments:
LTL/fellow LTL readers,
There are a lot of guys going through waivers right now, close to 20 players. It looks to be a weird mix of cost cutting cougars (Morrison/Satan) and AHL-playoff padding AHL-ers (Goertzen).
Honestly Howsen should put a claim on the only player of interest Morrison...it appears Anaheim couldn't even get a pick for Morrison which is very disheartening.. rumor is that he has really lost a (big) step.
But anyways, he's a veteran player with skill, albeit he's lost a step.. He comes at no trading cost except for remaining salary.. and he adds depth with NO contract.. seems like a no brainer to me .. You can look at it as a Novotny upgrade for the playoff push..
Does anyone know the salary specifics ?? Do we pay the remainder or half ??? (what do you mean the NHL rules have been constructed by lawyers..)
How lucky did we get btw... We almost signed him for multiple years at significantly higher cost then ANA.... sometimes the deals you miss out on are the best deals after all..
FULL LIST-O-WAIVERS SO FAR:
Brendan Morrison (ANA)
Eric Perrin (ATL)
Craig Adams (CHI)
Sean Avery (DAL re-entry) - Claimed by NYR
Tom Preissing (LA) - Cleared
Peter Olvecky (MIN)
Jon Sim (NYI)
Joe Callahan (NYI) - Cleared
Aaron Voros (NYR)
Erik Reitz (NYR)
Martin Gerber (OTT re-entry)
Brenden Bell (OTT)
Steven Goertzen (PHX)
Bill Thomas (PIT)
Gary Roberts (TB)
Miroslav Satan (PIT)
Lawrence Nycholat (VAN) - Claimed by CGY
If New Jersey doesn't put the claim in on Miroslav, I'm going to be very upset.
Saw a report out of Toronto (sun Media) that the Leafs are showing interest in Pascal LeClaire. Could he be part of a deal for Dominic Moore?
If Pazzy is dealt I'd hope for a better return than just Dominic Moore.
That said, reports from Toronto have both Moore and Antropov sitting out of the lineup tonight.
on (Or Satan, or a few other of these guys) would be a nice pick-up for the Jackets. However, how likely are they to still be available when the Jackets could put in a claim? I mean, for the same reasons the jackets would go for one (or more) of them, a team like, say, Nashville could put in a claim. I get the feeling something is going to happen, but I think I won't bother speculating or hoping and just enjoy being surprised by whatever is announced.
Of that list, Morrison, only - Roberts is at/near the end of his career, Satan - no way, the Pens didn't have a place for him, Voros - nah.
But, if Howson does go after someone from the NYR, what about Dubinsky? Now there's someone to go after - don't forget, dude is great at the "distinct kicking motion", so much so that those fine NHL refs never saw the most blatant kick in quite a while.
Puck-rakers speculated that Howson was chatting with the NYR... you better believe Dubinsky has to be at the top of his list. I would be as excited about him as I would be Vermette.
-LTL
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