Frank Seravalli of the Daily News quoted Paul Holmgren yesterday as stating that the reason forward Andreas Nodl was placed on waivers was to quickly remove one of their contracts to make room in the event that they traded for a a defenseman or signed a free agent defenseman.
“The people that I talked to, it seems like everybody is looking for defensemen, not looking to trade one. With defensemen, it’s not like they grow on trees. I’m not sure if anyone really has an excess of defensemen right now,” said Paul Holmgren.
It’s a very reasonable statement, which makes today’s announcement that defenseman Matt Walker has been placed on re-entry waivers all the more questionable.
In the handful of games that Walker played in this season, he looked terrible. He is arguably more talented than Kevin Marshall and Marc-Andre Bourdon in the short-term, but there is a palpable risk that Walker may be claimed on re-entry waivers come noon tomorrow.
If claimed, the Flyers will have to carry $850K on the books for this season and the next, meaning that they lost the ability to recall a Phantom if another player gets hurt (assuming that most players have come off of LTIR).
Even though Walker did not play well for the Flyers, there is an appeal for a physical defenseman with NHL experience at a reduced price. Holmgren said it himself- defensemen don’t grow on trees. So why did he just dangle one of his own in front of 29 other teams?
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