TUCKER'S WORLD RINKSIDE

“Behind Waviers”

The NHL wavier draft is usually confusing or often over looked by the casual hockey fan. Even I have trouble with some of the “rules” but that’s the NHL for you. The Waiver Draft has been affected by the pending NHL lockout next season. Some unique stuff has happened.


To set up the recent events lets try to establish the point of the draft and how it works. It isn’t like the entry draft it deals with players already on NHL & AHL teams. The Waiver draft starts right around the start of the season and its main purpose is mainly to spread the wealth so to speak. If a player is played on waviers he can be picked up by another NHL team. You can only protect so many people at one time. Now not everyone has to be protected rookies are off the hook.

Also off the hook are players who don’t have an NHL contract but actually have a two way contract. The two way contracts are for players on the brink of breaking into the NHL like Jimmy Vandermeer or fring players like Mark Grieg. He can be sent to the Phantoms ( Vandermeer likely will be soon) and he doesn’t have to clear waivers. Although this can be only done X amount of times in one season, so they can’t jerk the poor guy around I guess, Peter White had to clear waivers one time after being called up too many times. Anyone else that is sent to the Phantoms like Chris Therien recently has to clear waivers.

In years past other teams would have loved to gotten their hands on certain semi big name players (and did players like Straka were picked up in the past) who were put on waivers like Curtis Joseph did this past weekend. He was sent to the minors, and since no one wants to pay him his huge salary he cleared and is in the AHL. Since Hasek came back he is number 1 goalie. Number 2 is Many Legace who they think will be # 1 right now. As a seldom used back up he makes very little money by NHL standards and would be snatched up. So they sent CUJO down knowing he would clear.

So the draft that’s purpose for the struggling teams to be able to get talented players who weren’t being used is negated. A team that NEEDS Joseph can’t afford him, and could lose out if there is no hockey next season.

This past week the Flyers inked tough guy Steve Webb (who the hell knows why) and the sneaky little GM that Bob Clarke is he didn’t let it publicly known. The media didn’t even know. Webb was signed to an NHL contract I guess they figured the had a spot for him. Now in order to sign him they would have to put someone else on waivers. The Flyers didn’t want to risk losing anyone else so they kept the signing hush, hush. They actually put Webb on waivers andhoped no on would notice their new player chilling on Waivers. However the Pittsburgh Penguins did and they scopped him right up. Webb thought he was going to play in Philly had no choice but to go west. Since the Penguins didn’t sign him they don’t have to put anyone on waivers. So basically they could have waited for him to come out of the Skate zone one day threw a bag over his head and thrown him into a SUV heading for Pittsburgh.