WAIVER WORLD
With the Pittsburgh Penguins having until 5 p.m. Friday to get under the maximum roster size, decisions needed to be made. And fast. Just a six day training camp for the NHL Penguins, along with Wednesday night's intrasquad scrimmage in Pittsburgh. Ray Shero and company were certainly busy this week.
Many are on their way back to Wilkes-Barre. Forwards Jayson Megna and Beau Bennett were returned to the AHL Penguins. Both are waiver exempt. Bennett was recently named to the AHL's Eastern Conference All-Star team. A well deserved nominee indeed.
Meanwhile, forwards Phil Dupuis, Benn Ferriero, Riley Holzapfel, Warren Peters and Trevor Smith and defensemen Alex Grant, Dylan Reese and Briant Strait have all been placed on waivers. All players are eligible to play in the AHL after clearing waivers at noon on Friday. I'll be at WBS Penguins practice in the morning for all the latest, and have the details on who remains in the organization.
All of the above guys who have been placed on waivers, with the exception of Brian Strait, had cleared waivers back in September before the NHL lockout but were required to go through the process again before the start of the season. That being said, all 30 teams had the option of adding these guys already so it is unlikely they'll have any trouble clearing. This is Strait's first time being available to opposing teams, but we will wait and see tomorrow.
Pittsburgh is currently at the max roster size set at 23 so they don't need to make anymore moves. It appears as though Eric Tangradi, Robert Bortuzzo and Simon Despres will at least begin the season in the NHL. Of the three, only Despres is waiver exempt.
Still, the AHL Penguins did some adding of their own, picking up defensemen Carl Sneep and Cody Wild from their ECHL affiliate Wheeling Nailers. The move gives the WBS Penguins eight healthy defensemen, with a possible ninth coming in the form of Brian Strait.
LOOKING FORWARD
Earlier today on the site's Twitter feed, I had said that forwards Chris Barton, Paul Crowder and Adam Payerl could be heading back to Wheeling with all the bodies coming back from Pittsburgh.
But with Warren Peters' early exit from Wednesday's scrimmage and the fact that Brian Gibbons was held out of the event altogether, some forwards may need some time off this weekend, especially after adding the already "day-to-day" Benn Ferriero and Phil Dupuis into the mix.
Speaking of this weekend, the WBS Penguins are off until Sunday evening when they face the Hershey Bears in the AHL's Outdoor Game at HersheyPark Stadium. Look for thoughts on this weekend's game from the players Saturday.
Look for an update from the WBS Penguins practice facility at Coal Street Rink tomorrow afternoon.
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