Friday, October 02, 2015

Afternoon Camp Demotions (Oct 2 - Draft Day Eve Edition)

According to the early season projections, the Chicago Blackhawks made a big move, sending forward Marko Dano down to the AHL on Friday afternoon.  Dano, acquired in the deal that saw Brandon Saad move to Columbus, was thought to be having a very good preseason.  Unfortunately, his $925,000 cap hit may have been part of the consideration about why he isn't staying up, as they are in a serious cap crunch again this year (and for years to come).  There is a fine chance that he'll return at some point in the season, but uncertainty will hurt his draft value.

The Blackhawks were not done there either, as they also placed Bryan Bickell on waivers on Friday, trying to offload his $4 million cap hit, one way or another.  If Bickell was to be picked up on waivers, that NHL team would have to assume his entire hit, but if he was to clear, the Blackhawks could send him down to the minors at minimal cap relief, thanks to a clause in the CBA, where teams can't bury entire cap hits or they keep him up with the team and demote someone else.  There are rumblings that Bickell may warrant a stop on the Long Term Injured Reserve, but that seems unlikely, given they tried to waive him.

Nevertheless, Bickell's days appear to be done in Chicago, so adjust your projections for him accordingly.

The New York Rangers moved a little bit closer to their opening night roster, as they placed Raphael Diaz on waivers on Friday, likely for the purposes of sending him down to the AHL. Diaz was having a decent camp, but it looks like the team is moving with Dylan McIlrath as their seventh defender out of camp, which is good news for him, as he has been in the organization for a few years now.

The Rangers still have one more cut that they need to make before the end of camp, so they're pretty darn close to finishing up and prepping for the start of the season.

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