Which Players Can Clear Waivers? (Brule Update)

CapGeek.com has quickly turned itself into the Bible of player contract and salary cap calculation questions. In addition to listing the length and dollars of players contracts, and calculating team numbers, CapGeek does some other cool things: including calculating waiver exemptions.

The question has come up a few times which Oilers prospects can clear waivers this fall, so I ran all of the conceivable bubble players who might still be young enough to qualify. Sam Gagner, oddly enough, can still clear waivers until he plays in five more NHL games. Of course he won’t be demoted to the minors; I include this fact only as a curiosity and an excuse to lead with the video above.

Not a lot of surprises here, and only two real concerns in the immediate future: Devan Dubnyk and Theo Peckham, both of whom will be waiver eligible for 2010-11. I expect that Peckham will carve out a role for himself on the third pairing this year (regardless of whether he’s with this team when they break camp or not). That just leaves Dubnyk, who must be considered the most promising young goaltender in the Oilers’ system. After this season, he needs to be brought up or the team risks exposing him – which makes the continued devotion to Jeff Deslauriers a little bit perplexing, since his is the only spot that might be available.

Some of these guys will be exposed; my guess is the bottom four names on the list. Potulny, Schremp or Reddox might garner some attention from someone, but I would bet that all three clear waivers – and if any of them don’t it isn’t a big loss; Potulny and Schremp are offensive prospects who haven’t been able to crack the NHL roster, while Reddox is a fairly run of the mill bottom-sixer.

UPDATE:  Gilbert Brule’s name has come up (again) since the team apparently believes he is still protected from waivers.  Here’s the way I understand it:

Brule’s still 3 games short of the 160-game requirement, but he first played 11+ games in 2006-07 (as a 19-year old) and his three seasons of eligibility (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09) should be up now.

He would have an additional year of protection had he not played in the NHL at age 19, but article 13.4 of the CBA seems to make it pretty clear cut that he’s waiver eligible.

The only possible way around this would be based on his birthday – Brule was born January 1, and the age calculation begins on January 1. There’s some room for argument there, but I believe the NHL would interpret the calculation as January 1st inclusive rather than exclusive, leaving Brule waiver eligible.