Some interesting news on the waiver wire today.
Shane O’Brien (CAL) and Mikael Samuelsson (DET) on waivers
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 25, 2014
No, I know. I can’t believe it either. How could they do this to Shane O’Brien?
Oh yeah, some other jerk is one waivers too. Let me put on my reading hat and se….WHAAAAAAAAAA?
Oh goodness yes. Mikael Samuelsson has been offered to any NHL GM who wants a right-handed former sniper. The 37-year old right-shooting Swedish forward has appeared in 26 games for the Red Wings this year, putting up 1 goal and 2 assists. Samuelsson spent much of last season injured and was not able to consistently find any sort of dangerous form which made him more valuable than any of the numerous Griffins call-ups who have played in his spot this season.
This is the last year of Sammy’s two-year deal with an AAV of $3M. He has a limited no-trade clause, but not a no-movement clause, so he can be waived and assigned to the AHL if he clears.
While an assignment to the AHL only clears $100,000 worth of Samuelsson’s cap hit off the Wings’ books, the consideration for the team right now is roster space. Once Stephen Weiss comes off LTIR, cap space will again become an issue, but in the meantime, the Red Wings need room to bring guys like Johan Franzen and Joakim Andersson off the short-term injured reserve list and back into the lineup.
Currently, Detroit has six players on IR, which allows them to carry 29 players. As players get healthy, other players have to go down to make space. While guys like Tomas Jurco, Riley Sheahan, and Luke Glendening can be sent down without having to clear waivers, each of those guys is more valuable in the lineup than Samuelsson has been, despite chances to produce on the power play.
We’ll know at noon tomorrow whether Samuelsson clears waivers or whether he’s picked up by a GM with an insanity streak.
[Update: Samuelsson cleared waivers and will be assigned to Grand Rapids]
