Monday, September 30, 2013

Nyquist Sent to Grand Rapids

The Detroit Red Wings, one of the cap ceiling teams in the NHL, have busy moving around bodies on and off their roster, in order to have a compliant opening day roster, which has to be in this afternoon to the NHL head office.  One of the cuts this morning saw Gustav Nyquist get his marching orders to Grand Rapids of the AHL, which will play in the pool early on.

Nyquist, who carries a cap hit of $950,000, wasn't cutting it through the preseason and with a more-than-minimum cap hit, he was going to be the odd-man out before too long.  Even with the injuries that the Wings have suffered, it wasn't enough to save Nyquist's job early on this season.

Last season, Nyquist had 6 points (3 goals & 3 assists) in 22 games with the Red Wings.

ImplicationsNyquist was the last pick in the draft this year, 336th overall in the 14th round to Benson, who was looking for another good sleeper pick. Unfortunately, not starting in the NHL is going to smart a little bit, especially since he has Tuomo Ruutu likely starting on the shelf with a lower-body injury as well.

In the Week One games to be played standings, Benson dropped down to a tie for 20th, now sitting at 28 games for his skaters and goalies to start the season.  Allan, the leader going into the week, has 35 games to be played, which could open up some points early on.

Nyquist will not be eligible for the waiver period, but Ruutu is.

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