We’re still waiting for real hockey games, but there won’t be a dull day off the ice between now and the start of the NHL regular season. Monday kicks off another week and another batch of players for the waiver wire.

• LD Andrew Bodnarchuk.
  Bodnarchuk played 37 games in the NHL last season, being claimed off
  waivers by Colorado from Columbus in January. A well-rounded if undersized
  defenceman at the AHL level, he lacks a standout skill.
• G Peter Budaj. The
  long-time NHL’er posted a 42-14-4 record and 0.932 save percentage with the
  Kings’ farm team last season. He’s probably best-suited to being a third-string
  option at this point in his career, but is probably capable of providing Jonas
  Gustavsson-level backup play if a team out there needs a fill-in option.
• C Sam Carrick. Carrick,
  age 24, has spent his entire career prior to this fall in the Toronto Maple
  Leafs organization. He’s a physical forward, and the question is whether he’ll
  score enough to challenge for a fourth-line job. He had 34 points in 52 AHL
  games a year ago.
• LD Tim Erixon. It
  was a big deal back in 2011 when Erixon forced a trade from Calgary to the New
  York Rangers, but in hindsight the player’s ambition exceeded his ability to
  have an impact at the NHL level. He spent last season in the minors after going
  to Pittsburgh in the Phil Kessel trade, and it’s a reasonable bet that at age
  25 his 93 career NHL games will end up being the bulk of his career.
• LD Mark Fraser. A
  big, tough veteran, Mark Fraser was schooled in the New Jersey system and knows
  his business in the defensive zone. Limited foot speed and ability with the
  puck make it increasingly difficult for him to crack an NHL roster as he enters
  his 30’s. He has played 219 NHL games but spent all of last year in the minors.
• LD Cameron Gaunce. Gaunce
  spent all of last season in the minors, and by the numbers at least had a
  breakthrough season at age 25. He hit a career high in points (37) and
  decreased his penalty minutes from 113 the season before down to just 60. He’s
  played 20 NHL games but hasn’t been able to make the jump full-time.
• RD Vincent Loverde. On
  the surface, Loverde is a 27-year-old career AHL’er. However, he had a
  career-high in points last season (32 in just 56 AHL games), he shoots right
  and he has a reputation of being a smart player. That’s not entirely dissimilar
  from, say, Corey Potter in the fall of 2011.
• LW Stefan Matteau. Matteau
  was an eyebrow-raising first-rounder of the Devils back in 2012. The 6’2”,
  220-pound forward has always played a mature, competitive game, but lacked the
  offensive upside to have a shot at top-six work. He played 32 games in the NHL
  last season, picking up a pair of points. If he can provide even a smidgen of
  offence he’ll have a career, but so far he hasn’t managed that.  
• LD Stuart Percy. Percy,
  a first-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2011, was somewhat surprisingly cut
  loose this past summer by Toronto. He’s a two-way defenceman with a range of
  skills and is still only 23 years of age.
• RD Chad Ruhwedel. Ruhwedel
  has played 33 career NHL games, but just one of those came last season and at
  the age of 26 this undersized puckmover runs the risk of being labeled a career
  ‘tweener.
• C Jordan Schroeder. The
  right-shooting Schroeder was a first-round pick in 2009, with the Vancouver
  Canucks betting his offensive acumen would make up for his lack of size. He has
  turned into a pretty decent scorer at the AHL level, but has just 27 points in
  107 NHL games and turned 26 this past week. His contract is reasonable enough that he
  might be an option in a 13th forward slot; he’s been a reasonably good
  possession player over his career and right-shooting centres generally have
  some value.
• LD Viktor Svedberg. The
  massive (6’8”, 238 pounds) Svedberg brings to mind Zdeno Chara, or less
  charitably, Boris Valabik. He spent 27 games on the Blackhawks’ roster last
  season and even found his way into some playoff action. He isn’t fast but has
  some ability with the puck and given his age (25) and the organization he’s
  with now might be attractive to a general manager with a hole to fill on the
  blue line.
• LW Chris Terry. Terry
  has spent most of the last two seasons in the NHL with Carolina, scoring 31
  points over 125 games played. He’s not particularly big or brilliant
  defensively, and his scoring hasn’t been good enough to keep him in the majors.
• LW Garrett Wilson. Just
  call him Jean-Francois Jacques. The 6’2” Wilson plays a rugged style of hockey
  and found his way into 29 NHL contests last season. He has never recorded a
  point in any of his 34 regular season games, though he did manage a playoff
  assist for Florida last spring.  

The two possible exceptions for me are Schroeder and Svedberg. Lots of teams like a spare forward to play centre, and right-shooting centres are more valuable still. Lots of other teams like to have a massive body they can trot out as their No. 6 defenceman for games in California. That gives either of those players some small chance of landing on another club’s roster. 

RECENTLY BY JONATHAN WILLIS

• Highlights from the waiver wire: 10/2/16
• Oilers waive Musil, Beck; demote four others
• Highlights from the waiver wire: 10/1/16
• Highlights from the waiver wire: 9/30/16 
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