Here is my latest blog post as today I give my opinion on some recent Waiver news as well as a few recent trade rumours involving the Blues and Jesse Puljujarvi in Edmonton.
Puljujarvi to be moved in the very near future.
Now just about a week ago Puljujarvi came out and said that he hasn’t been playing too well this season and is wondering if he could be a good top 9 forward in the NHL and it is safe to say that he has had a bad start to the season this year after a pretty good season last year it seems like his fit in Edmonton isn’t there anymore and it seems like the Oilers are working hard to try and move on from Puljujarvi and get him a fresh starts elsewhere. Now Puljujarvi has for the most part this year been playing 3rd line minutes with guys like Holloway and McLeod and even with a guy like Kane injured in the top six he isn’t getting those minutes so it is safe to say that he has fallen out of favour with the Oilers as last year he was playing top six mutes and even got some time playing with McDavid and looked like he was playing his best hockey in the NHL to that points getting 14 goals and 36 points in 65 games with the Oilers last year and looked good but the same can’t be said for this year where he only has 1 goal and 6 points in 31 games and with his reduced role on the team and not producing much it has made it difficult to facilitate a move right now. Now Puljujarvi was discussed in some trade rumours in the offseason when he was a RFA and it seemed like the Oilers couldn’t afford his services but they were able to eventually get a 1 year deal with a cap hit of $3 Million dollars done and he wound up starting with the Oilers instead of a new team and it sounds like it wasn’t for the lack of trying but with what Edmonton wanted and him being arbitration eligible not many teams were willing to that. So it seems like now that he has fallen out of favour with the Oilers it makes sense that maybe his time in Edmonton is finally coming to a end and a trade may be near and while I think the Oilers would still rather get a draft pick in return then taking a contract back the best move right now may be swapping underwhelming players like we have heard in rumours this year involving maybe a Puljujarvi-Kapanen swap with Pittsburgh or a Comtois-Puljujarvi swap with Anaheim but one thing is for sure, Puljujarvi’s time in Edmonton is drawing to a clause and whether it is by a trade before the deadline in March or in the offseason the Oilers and Puljujarvi seem to be going separate ways soon.
O’Reilly could be moved before the deadline.
Now the Blues have done a okay job this season as they are still in the mix for a playoff spot and are .500 but they haven’t done the best I think the Blues could do and could that lead the Blues to trade one of the biggest free agents in the upcoming offseason. Now O’Reilly has been the heart and soul of this team for a while now and is the Blues captain and was a key piece in the Blues run to being Stanley Cup Champs just a few years ago but it seems like O’Reilly may be starting to decline, as O’Reilly had 4 full seasons in the Blues organization prior to this year and has never had less then 54 points in a season but this year he only has 15 points in 31 games and that is a pace of just hitting 40 points in a full 82 game season this year for the Blues so given the fact it would be the first time since the 2012-13 season with the Avalanche that he would have less then 50 points it does seem like he is declining but he is still a lethal two way threat but I think there are a couple of other reasons that he could be moved. First is the fact that he is a UFA after the year and could the Blues realistically sign him after this year because I do think there is probably some interest to keep their captain for the next few years but one would he want to sign on a deal the Blues are offering because I can see him getting between 6-8 Million this offseason on a 2-4 year deal and would the Blues want to do that sort of deal and on top of that the team now has a legit number 1 Center with Robert Thomas and if they needed a 2nd line Center Brayden Schenn is still with the team so while I think they would hurt a bit from losing him they wouldn’t be set back a lot and the other thing is Blues GM Doug Armstrong has shown in the past he isn’t afraid to move big time pending UFA’s if his team is on the bubble at the deadline as in the 17-18 season the Blues moved Paul Stastny to the Jets at the deadline when they were in a wildcard spot and were able to get a 1RD pick, mid level prospect Erik Foley and a conditional 4RD pick for him and with that 1RD pick they drafted Dominik Bokk and he was packaged with Edmundson and a 7RD pick to acquire Justin Faulk just over a year later and has been a good top 4 defensemen for the past few seasons in St.Louis so moving pending UFA Stastny directly helped the Blues get Faulk and if they could do the same sort of thing with O’Reilly and/or Tarasenko if they aren’t 100% going to make the playoffs then I think it is very likely O’Reilly is traded. Now I think a lot of teams would have interest in O’Reilly as a good 2nd or 3rd line Center who is really good in the defensive end and in the face off dot and I have heard the Maple Leafs been linked to him a little bit this year and my mind goes to a team like maybe Vegas, Dallas or Carolina as I think Carolina and Vegas could both use a upgrade at 2nd line Center and the Stars have been looking for a top 6 forward to play with Seguin and Marchment so I think those teams could be the from runners for O’Reilly so while I think it isn’t even close to a guarantee that he does get moved as I think the Blues could stil solidify themselves as a playoff team, I think if they are right around the 7th or 8th spot in the west and aren’t guaranteed a playoff spot I think guys like Tarasenko and O’Reilly are players the Blues will seriously look at moving so keep an eye on O’Reilly as he may wind up being a trade chip come deadline time for the Blues.
Here is what has happened with the waiver wire from NOV 20th to NOV 30th.
Cleared Waivers
Nashville
Zach Sanford LW,RW (1 year left $.850 Thousand dollars)
Toronto
Wayne Simmonds RW,LW (1 year left $.900 Thousand dollars)
Boston
Anton Stralman RD (1 year left $1 Million dollars)
Cleared Unconditional Waivers
Buffalo
Riley Sheahan LW,C (1 year left $.950 Thousand dollars)
Chicago
Jakub Pour RW (1 year left $.843 Thousand dollars)
Claimed off of Waivers
Vincent Carchietta USA Today Sports
Magnus Hellberg G (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by the Kraken and was claimed by the Red Wings.
Analysis: so another bunch of players were placed on waivers during this stretch of time and quite frankly with this bunch here I don’t think there were too many surprises. Now for Pour he hasn’t played a NHL game as he was still on his ELC but also wasn’t getting AHL time as after he played last year in the AHL and played alright getting 8 points in 44 games he was sent to the ECHL to start this year and because he wanted more playing time the Hawks and Pour decided to part ways and the waiver placement was to terminate his contract, now he isn’t a NHL player and you don’t normally see a player who is on Unconditional waivers get claimed by another team so seeing him clear waivers is not too surprising and I think that he should be able to find somewhere to play overseas where he can get much more playing time then he was getting with the Hawks, as for the other player that was on Unconditional waivers I was a bit surprised that the Sabres were terminating the Riley Sheahan contract. Now Sheahan signed a cheap one year deal with a AAV of $.950 Thousand dollars with the Sabres in the offseason to be a good bottom six forward but after he played in a couple of games early in the season putting up no points in 2 games and then he was later placed on waivers to send him to the minors and after playing a few games in the minors he saw that it was very likely he wouldn’t get much of a NHL opportunity anymore with the Sabres definitely having a good forward group so he and the Sabres agreed to part ways and terminate the contract so that he could find opportunity elsewhere and I think that while he could’ve been claimed as he was a okay depth forward you almost never see a player on unconditional waivers get claimed so I think it is unfortunate that Sheahan wasn’t given more of a opportunity but hopefully he can get more playing time overseas. Meanwhile for the three that wound up clearing I think the least surprising would be Zach Sanford. Last year Sanford spilt time with the Sens and Jets as he was moved to Winnipeg after the trade deadline and did alright but wasn’t as productive as he was in years prior with St.Louis as he had a good 20 and 30 point season but was more of a 4th line forward last year and still had a good 9 goals and 21 points in 80 games before signing a 1 year deal with Nashville in the offseason and only got into 8 games before being on waivers having a goal and a assist but given he had been a healthy scratch for some games late last year and this season I thought that most teams probably wouldn’t claim him and I was right so hopefully Sanford can get his stock to rise in the AHL so he can be called up by the Preds at some point in season. Now for Simmonds this was the second time he had been placed on waivers this year as he was also placed and cleared waivers just before the season started. Now Simmonds when he has been up in the NHL has been a okay 4th line forward for the Maple Leafs but hasn’t been as productive as recent seasons as he in his first season with Toronto two years he got into 38 games and put up 7 goals and 9 points and last year was his best with Toronto putting up 5 goals and 16 points in 72 games but hasn’t been able to get into and produce well this year only having a assist in 7 games with Toronto. Now it does sound like Toronto could trade him and that is why I thought he might be a likely option to be claimed on the waiver wire but he also cleared earlier in the year and I thought he could’ve also cleared and he did so now he has cleared and should still be a very likely trade candidate as he hasn’t been able to get into much game action this year. With Boston and Stralman he was another player who I thought definitely could’ve been claimed but didn’t. Now Stralman signed a 1 year $1 Million dollar contract with Boston just before the season started after he went to trading camp on a PTO and he had actually done really well in the early part of the season as a 3rd pair defensemen for Boston and carried some of his success over from last season when he had 8 goals and 23 points in 74 games with Arizona which was the most points he had since the 16-17 season and had no points in 8 games with Boston before being sent on waivers and while I thought that he could easily be claimed as he is a cheap, veteran 3rd pair defensemen who can put up some points and be a good depth D-Men on a injured blueline, I also thought that other teams had a chance to sign him before he took Boston’s PTO so while I thought he could be claimed I wasn’t going to be surprised if he cleared and that is what he did so know he can hopefully be okay in the AHL for know as the Bruins now have a healthy D-Corp but if there was a injury I would definitely expect him to get back into the lineup. And as for the one waiver claim in Hellberg it wasn’t that he was claimed that was surprising but who claimed him. Now Hellberg has been in a lot of places since coming back from Russia last year, he signed a 1 year deal in March with the Red Wings last year and stayed with Detroit until the end of the season starting 1 game and allowing 3 goals and then went into the offseason as a UFA where the Kraken winded up signing him to a 1 year contract as their 3rd or 4th string goalie but had to place him on waivers beefier the season started to send him to the minors and he was claimed by Ottawa who had some goalie troubles at the time. Now for the first month of the year he was with Ottawa being the backup and getting into 1 game and having some pretty stellar numbers in that game before he was back on waivers and was reclaimed by Seattle who placed him on waivers earlier and he didn’t play but was backup for a few weeks as Grubauer dealt with injury before Seattle placed him on waivers again and he was claimed by Detroit which is where we are now. So since being claimed by the team he signed with last year he has mostly been a healthy scratch only getting into 1 game and having okay numbers so I think with Detroit having a good tandem that for as long as he is there he should continue to be 3rd string but if he were to be placed on waivers again I wouldn’t be too surprised if he was claimed as he is a good 3rd string goalie and lots of teams good use that.
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