Over 20 NHL players placed on waivers, including a few former 1st round picks

The NHL waiver wire nearly broke today with a whopping 22 players hitting the newswire. 

Check out this list of available players courtesy of our friends at CapFriendly.com:

Collin Delia
Brady Keeper
Noah Juulsen
John Stevens
Guillaume Brisebois
Zane McIntyre
Mitchell Stephens
Anthony Richard
Alex Belzile
Tyler Wotherspoon
Robbie Russo
Joseph Gambardella
Jeremy Groleau
Taylor Fedun
Nick Wolff
Oskar Steen
Connor Carrick
Brendan Gaunce
Brett Seney
Dylan Sikura
Luke Philp
Nicolas Beaudin

The most intriguing names to me on this list are former 1st round picks Noah Juulsen and Brendan Gaunce. Dylan Sikura is another intriguing option. As for the rest of the pack, Oskar Steen could generate some interest. Taylor Fedun was more or less expected to hit the waiver wire today after the Pittsburgh Penguins made a claim yesterday. There was also some talk that they were looking to move defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph in a trade so that they could retain Fedun. Evidently though, they couldn't find a willing trade partner in time for today's waiver wire.

And then there's the goalies Colin Delia and Zane McIntyre. The preseason always features some sort of goalie carousel, so I wouldn't be surprised if both or either of these goaltenders gets claimed in the next 24 hours. The likes of Brady Keeper, John Stevens, Guillaume Brisebois, Mitchell Stephens, Anthony Richard, Alex Belzile, Tyler Wotherspoon, Robbie Russo, Joseph Gambardella, Jeremy Groleau, Nick Wolff, Connor Carrick, Brett Seney, Luke Philip and Nicolas Beaudin probably won't generate much interest league wide. But... here's the thing... I've said things like that in other reports and been DEAD wrong, so... who the Hell knows?

If I were a betting man though, I'd bet that at least a couple of these guys get claimed with the smart money being on at least one goaltender getting claimed.

One thing's for sure though, we're likely to see a LOT more of waiver wire action like this in the days leading up to the opening of the NHL season. Each and every day there are more and more training camp cuts being made, which means that players have to be sent down to the minor leagues, which means that they have to clear waivers on the way.