Byron, Corrado, Berube Claimed Off Waivers

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In the last of the high-traffic preseason waiver days, three players have been claimed off waivers. The Montreal Canadiens have claimed forward Paul Byron from the Calgary Flames, the Toronto Maple Leafs have claimed Frank Corrado from the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders have claimed goaltender J.F. Berube from the Los Angeles Kings.

Byron played a depth role with the Flames last season, playing 57 games, through which the 26-year-old grabbed six goals and 13 assists. The Ottawa-native has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $900,000, after which he will be a UFA.

He becomes a piece of Montreal’s continued efforts to figure out their forward depth group. Also playing into this claim is yesterday’s announcement by the team that Zach Kassian was placed in a substance abuse program following an early morning car accident that left him with a few broken bones.

The 22-year-old Corrado has a single year left on his deal with a cap hit of $632,500. He’ll be a RFA at the end of the season.

Last year with Vancouver the defender grabbed just a handful of game for the third straight season, playing just 10 matches. He hasn’t broken into the NHL full time yet, but many scouting reports have him pegged as a guy who could break through soon. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston told Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly about the claim, to which Reilly responded, “Wow, he’s a good defenseman.” They played together at World Juniors.

Berube was a 4th round selection for the Kings in the 2009 NHL draft. He lead the Manchester Monarchs in his second pro season to a Calder Cup championship, starting 58 regular season games with a .913 save percentage.

Berube was a victim of the Kings continually having solid goaltending depth and having a reasonably priced two-way contract at $562,500, unlike other goaltenders who have passed through waivers recently, like Dustin Tokarski and Ben Scrivens.

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