Shocking developments on waivers on Friday!

On Thursday at 2ETpm, on the first day of waivers of the 2025-26 season, seven players were placed on the wire, and amongst them is goalie Connor Ingram. Many insiders and pundits assumed that one team would claim the netminder, perhaps the Edmonton Oilers or even Pittsburgh Penguins looking to give Ingram a fresh start.

On Friday, the deadline came and went and it was finally confirmed that Ingram was not claimed off the wire and now the Utah Mammoth will need to explore the trade route to provide the young goalie with a start elsewhere in the league.

Last week, Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong had revealed that the goalie was not going to attend training camp and that the team would work to find a new home for the netminder. Ingram missed the end of the 2024-25 campaign while tending to a personal matter, but he was cleared to return to on-ice activities in mid-August. The National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players Association’s Player Assistance Program even released an official update on the status of Ingram, stating that he had once again been cleared to return to play in the NHL.

It has not been easy for Ingram, who has openly shared his ongoing struggles since he came into the NHL and with the recent unexpected loss of his mother to breast cancer, and a fresh start seems to be exactly what he needs.

Ingram had shined in goal over the past few seasons as a member of the Arizona Coyotes, but his play saw a significant decline during the 2024-25 NHL regular season. Ingram recorded a 3.27 goals against average and a .882 save percentage over just 22 games last season, by far the worst stretch of play across his entire NHL career.

This is somewhat unexpected news for Ingram, who had been linked to the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.

I’m only hoping he gets the second chance he deserves in the NHL.

OTHER WAIVERS NEWS

The six other players that were placed on waivers Thursday also cleared.

The Ottawa Senators placed five players on waivers for the purpose of being assigned to Belleville: Wyatt Bongiovanni, Xavier Bourgault, Cameron Crotty, Garrett Pilon and Hunter Shepard, after reducing training camp roster by 17 players and leaving 31 players in camp before heading to Quebec City for their preseason contest against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, followed by a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. The Oilers made Bourgault the 22nd overall pick of the 2021 draft, but Edmonton cut bait with him last offseason, trading him to the Sens for winger Roby Jarventie.

The Philadelphia Flyers had placed forward Oscar Eklind on waivers despite signing him to a contract extension back in May. He spent the 2024-25 season with Lehigh Valley where he played in 64 games and registered 22 points. Eklind will now be heading back to he Phantoms in the NHL.