3 players claimed off waivers, land with top contenders

On Thursday, a total of 22 players were placed on waivers and one has found a new team. The Columbus Blue Jackets had placed Daemon Hunt on the wire, and on Friday, the Minnesota Wild claimed him.

It was already a surprise to see that Hunt had been placed on waivers in the purpose of reassignment to the minors, seeing that many pundits thought he had secured a spot in the main roster for opening night.

Now instead of having him down the minors, Columbus has lost him to a strong contender.

This is a reunion back with the Wild for Hunt, who saw action in one NHL game last season with them before he was part of a trade that sent David Jiricek to Minnesota on Nov. 30.

He spent the rest of the regular season with AHL Cleveland, picking up two goals and 12 assists in 48 games.

In July, Hunt signed a one-year, two-way contract with Columbus, but will now reunite with the club that selected him in the third round back in 2020.

Out of the 22 players on waivers yesterday, there was also Cole Schwindt who had been placed them by the Vegas Golden Knights. The Florida Panthers have just claimed the winger today.

This is also somewhat of a return for Schwindt, who was selected in the third round by Florida in 2019.

There was also defenseman Ilya Solovyov, who was placed on waivers by the Calgary Flames on Thursday and now lands with the Colorado Avalanche, who’ve just claimed him.

There was a total of three waiver claims on Friday. All other 19 players that were placed on the wire yesterday, which included Utah Mammoth defenseman Scott Perunovich, Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward Danton Heinen and Vancouver Canucks’ Vitali Kravtsov, have cleared.