Breaking: Former first round pick placed on waivers today!

Two established NHLers hit waivers.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Breaking: Former first round pick placed on waivers today!
Keystone Press

Two well established National Hockey League players have suddenly found themselves on the waiver wire. 

The first, and least surprising, name on the list is that of veteran defenseman Alex biega of the Vancouver Canucks. We reported last night that the team's decision to activate veteran NHL agitator/enforcer Antoine Roussel left them with one player too many on the roster and all signs pointed to Biega getting cut.

Roussel's addition to the roster brings the Canucks to a total of 24 players on the 23 man roster and that means that one man has to go, according to Johnston Biega is the man that will be sacrificed to the waiver process. Now obviously by putting Biega on waivers the Canucks risk losing him to a rival team for absolutely nothing at all, although it remains to be seen whether or not any rival teams will actually take a shot at grabbing Biega, a move that would likely then force the team picking him up to waive a player of their own. 

Now under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement the Canucks did not need to place Biega on waivers until this morning which is why you saw Roussel active in last night's game. Should only one team claim him they would immediately be able to send him down to the American Hockey League without having to go through the waiver process themselves however should multiple requests be submitted they would need to waive Biega, or another player, in order to send them down to the AHL.

The 30 year old blue liner has seen limited use in recent years appearing in 44 games for the Canucks during the 2018 - 2018 NHL regular season and recording 1 goal and 8 assists for a total of 9 points on the season. He finished that year with ap lus minus rating of +3. In fact Biega has never played in a full season at the NHL level always splitting time between the AHL and the NHL but he has proven himself to be a serviceable and reliable option for the Canucks year after year. 

The bigger of the two names however is that of veteran NHL forward Marko Dano, a former first round pick in the National Hockey League. According to a breaking report from Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman the Jets have made the decision to place Dano on waivers, this after the 23 year old center has failed to play in a single game for them this season. Dano is viewed as a much better player than Biega in most circles and I would not be surprised to see Dano claimed on waivers, although they both may very well be by the time the process is over. 

Dano however is a center and although he is usually considered purely a backup option at the position he could bring some very serviceable depth up the middle to a number of teams who are desperate for exactly that kind of an asset. Don't be surprised if Dano is wearing a new uniform, one that does not belong to the Jets, following the waiver process.

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