NHL
NHL Preseason
Waivers are often the graveyard of NHL fans’ former hopes and dreams, full of players fans hoped would fill a meaningful role on their favorite teams. They can be a second chance for players who, due to various circumstances, haven’t been able to secure a full-time role with their current NHL team. Today, we highlight several players NHL teams could target if they hit waivers, looking specifically at young players who could have upside.
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This article is largely speculative — we don’t know if these players will for sure be on waivers or will for sure be claimed, but several players in past versions of this article have been claimed each year. We also won’t be analyzing Connor Ingram because his waiver situation was already covered in a separate story.
Poirier has been a highly productive AHL defenseman and is coming off a 42-point season. He has the mobility and skill of an NHL player. His defensive play has always been a significant issue, and that’s continued to be the case. Still, we could see him claimed if a team is craving a power-play quarterback type just to see how it would go in the NHL, as he’s yet to play a game in the league.
Pyyhtiä played 47 games last season for Columbus. As an average-sized winger without standout offensive traits, his role is somewhat replaceable, and it’s why he’s not in the likely top 12 for the Blue Jackets. He has enough talent to go with a solid two-way work ethic that a team looking for a bottom-six winger could pick him up.
As Detroit’s recent first-round picks at forward continue to progress, Berggren could get squeezed out. He’s an excellent skater with a high skill level, but he’s not dynamic enough offensively as a small winger who isn’t hard to play against to lock down a spot long-term. At some point, it feels like his time in Detroit will come to an end when someone like Nate Danielson or Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard makes the team. That time could come as soon as this fall.
Adding Logan Mailloux to the right side in St. Louis boxes Kessel out of the starting six, as Mailloux’s superior skating will likely give him the edge for ice time. Kessel should still be the favorite to be the No. 7 defenseman for the Blues, but if even one defenseman outplays him in camp, such as Theo Lindstein, it could end up with him on the wire.
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Iorio is in a precarious position. He’s been an important player on top AHL teams in recent years, but the right side of Washington’s defense is well-established. He’s a big right-shot who is a good skater and isn’t overly offensive but can make a reliable first pass. Unless Washington decides to keep him as the seventh defenseman and/or rotate him in the lineup, the Capitals could have a hard decision to make on a prospect that other teams could potentially have significant interest in.
When Robertson hit the wire last fall, there were NHL teams debating putting a claim on him, and I expect the same thing to happen again this year. His game doesn’t have flashy elements, but he’s big, can skate and has enough puck play to plausibly fill a 5-7 D role on an NHL team.
Stanley’s size, skating and physicality have always been exciting traits for evaluators, but his mediocre skill and hockey sense have kept him on the periphery of being an NHL regular. Now with youngsters like Elias Salomonsson in Winnipeg pushing for ice time, his time with the Jets could be coming to an end without a convincing training camp. A team looking to get bigger could target him in that scenario.
Kerins, a sixth-round pick from 2020, exploded for 33 goals and 61 points in 63 games as a 22-year-old in the AHL last season. He has a long track record of impressive production, dating back to his junior days when he piled up 118 points in 67 games during his draft-plus-two season in the OHL. Kerins even chipped in with four points in five NHL games during a midseason recall in January. He’s followed it up with an impressive, productive start to this preseason, but there’s no guarantee it’ll land him a roster spot, because the Flames are crowded with depth forwards and his undersized 5-foot-11 frame may not be ideal for a bottom-of-the-lineup role.
Young centers with scoring upside aren’t easy to come by, so if Kerins fails to make the Flames, he could be worth a claim.
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The Predators have a logjam of depth defensemen, even after accounting for the extra spot created by Nic Hague’s four-to-six-week injury. Between Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, Nick Perbix, Justin Barron, Adam Wilsby, Jordan Oesterle, Andreas Englund, Spencer Stastney, Nick Blankenburg and top prospect Tanner Molendyk, the Predators have 10 defensemen who could realistically contend for an NHL blue-line job.
Stastney would be an intriguing name to consider if he doesn’t make the NHL roster. The 25-year-old is a very smooth skater and puck-mover. Stastney showed exciting flashes when he was called up for 20 NHL games in 2023-24, driving 57 percent of expected goals and a plus-eight goal differential in a third-pair role. He cracked the Predators’ top six for their first-round series against the Canucks, but took a hard hit in Game 3 that sidelined him for the rest of the series.
Last year, Stastney took a leave of absence, which resulted in him missing camp and the start of the season. Stastney’s chances of cracking the Predators have certainly increased after the Hague injury, but if he shakes loose, he’s a plug-and-play third-pair defenseman with some modest upside.
Blankenburg is caught in the same fierce roster battle as Stastney. The 27-year-old has been overlooked because of his undersized 5-foot-9 frame, but every time he’s played in the NHL (115 career games), he’s offered rock-solid play. Blankenburg moves pucks well, hits like a truck and admirably held his own while averaging 19:33 in 63 games for the Predators last season. Nashville’s blue line is healthier than last year, though, and Blankenburg landed on waivers last fall too so there’s no guarantee he’ll maintain an NHL job.
With Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield, Phillip Danault and Alex Turcotte likely to take the four everyday center jobs in L.A., Samuel Helenius’ path to being a top-12 forward to start the season is a bit tricky. Corey Perry’s injury increases the likelihood of L.A. being able to keep Helenius as a 13th or 14th forward on the roster, but there is also competition for those jobs.
Helenius would be an interesting project if he were to become available. The 22-year-old is a giant 6-6 center who was drafted in the second round in 2021. He’s quite raw and is very limited offensively, but he held his own in 50 games for the Kings last season. Helenius’ size, position and draft pedigree would likely intrigue other teams, and it’s possible he could develop into a Michael McCarron-type physical, defensive-minded center one day.
Acquired from Pittsburgh in the Matt Dumba cap dump trade, Kolyachonok has a lot of fascinating tools that could make him a credible depth defenseman. He has a lanky 6-2 frame, is a mobile skater, has decent puck skills and plays a hard, competitive game. Kolyachonok has room to improve his decision-making to round out his defensive game, though he drove decent underlying numbers in sheltered minutes last year. If Alex Petrovic beats him out for the No. 7 job, Kolyachonok could end up on waivers.
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Three years ago, Bains signed an entry-level contract with the Canucks after leading the WHL with 112 points in 68 games as an overager. The 24-year-old has been a near point-per-game scorer in the AHL over the last two seasons and was one of Abbotsford’s best players en route to their Calder Cup championship.
Bains is a smart two-way player with crafty playmaking skills and savvy defensive details. He has significantly improved his skating quickness, which has made him more disruptive on the forecheck. He’s average-sized and hasn’t yet learned how to translate his offense to the NHL, with one point in 21 career games. With that said, Bains has been a late bloomer at pretty much every level, and he’s got enough NHL-caliber tools that he could be worth a roll of the dice as a hardworking, reliable bottom-six winger with playmaking upside.
A top-10 pick in 2018, Kravtsov is attempting an NHL comeback after finishing sixth in KHL scoring last season. The Canucks have a glut of depth forwards, and Kravtsov is currently on the outside looking in on a roster spot.
Kravtsov has intriguing size and skill, though he lacks a standout offensive trait. His straight-line speed appears to be quicker than it was during his last NHL stint, though his edge work in tight areas is still a work in progress. Kravtsov could appeal to a team with less depth that wants to gamble on his tools, pedigree and last year’s KHL breakout.
(Photos of Arshdeep Bains and Logan Stanley: Bob Frid and Bob Kupbens / Imagn Images)
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