There is a good deal of waiver activity on Sunday.
3 National Hockey League organizations have placed players on waivers today and among the 3 it looks like 1 has a realistic chance of being claimed as a depth option while another appears to be headed for a contract termination.
Let us begin with Washington Capitals forward Nathan Walker who I believe to be the only player in this group that has a chance of being claimed by a rival organization. The Capitals are set to welcome back Travis Boyd off of long term injured reserve and as a result of his return they will be over by one player on their active roster, resulting in the need to waive one of their players in order to send him down to the American Hockey League.
Walker was an obvious choice as the 24 year old left winger has only played in 3 games for the Capitals this season and has been used entirely as a depth option by the organization. Through those 3 games he has recorded no goals and just 1 assist for a total of 1 point and a plus minus rating of +1 on the season. Walker spent the majority of last season playing in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears although he did get some looks at the NHL level with both the Capitals as well as the Edmonton Oilers as well.
The other interesting player on this list is former New York Islanders' 4th round pick ( 96th overall) Matt Donovan. The 28 year old defenseman has spent relatively little time in the NHL over the past few seasons playing instead in the Swedish Hockey League as a member of Frolunda HC but was brought back into the gold by the Nashville Predators this season. That being said though he has only had the chance to play at the american Hockey League level thus far although that should not be a huge surprise given the level of depth that the Predators currently boast on their blue line. In 13 games for the Milwaukee Admirals Donovan has been strong however with 6 goals and 6 assists for a total of 12 points and a plus minus rating of +4. It is possible that Donovan could be claimed but given that we have seen nothing of him at the NHL level this season it's hard to gauge how other teams around the league view him at this time.
Last but not least it looks like the Calgary Flames are set to give up on 25 year old undrafted prospect Yasim Ehliz after just 4 games played with the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League. According to Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Ehliz has been placed on unconditional waivers which usually signals that a contract termination or a buyout is coming down the pipeline.
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