In Red Wings Land

G Jussi Olkinuora #LGRW has been placed on unconditional waivers for purpose of contract termination

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) January 31, 2023

Not much to say here.  He was signed with the expectation that he’d be given a chance to shine and compete in the North American game and he went 6-8-0 in Grand Rapids with a .868 save percentage.

There’s lots of context around that number and what a general dumpster fire the Griffins have been, but the dude is 32 years old.  This was a long shot and contract terminations such as this are mutual, so he gets the ability to move on and we get an extra contract slot under the limit of 50 for a little more flexibility heading into February.

Around the League

NHL STAT PACK: CAPTAINS MOVED BEFORE THE TRADE DEADLINE – The Hockey News

Feb. 4, 2010: In his first year as captain of the Atlanta Thrashers, impending free agent Ilya Kovalchuk was dealt to the New Jersey Devils in a package that saw three players and two draft picks come back to Atlanta. The two picks were flipped to Chicago and became Kevin Hayes and Justin Holl.

This is the one listed that’s as close to the Horvat deal that just happened, since the majority of the other ones listed were for older guys looking to clear room for a rebuild and/or chase a cup.

Who knows, maybe we’ll see another captain move by the trade deadline (no, not ours).