As the regular season gets closer to beginning, NHL teams are continuing to keep the waiver wire full. Today, Oct. 3, 2025, 12 players have been placed on waivers, while three players from yesterday’s waivers have been claimed.
On waivers in the NHL today. pic.twitter.com/Fif67Zc9qu
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) October 3, 2025
Among players waived on Oct. 2, Cole Schwindt was claimed by the Florida Panthers after trading him as part of the trade to bring in Matthew Tkachuk. Schwindt was waived by the Vegas Golden Knights after being claimed from the Calgary Flames in 2024.
The Minnesota Wild also claimed Daemon Hunt, who they traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the deal to bring in David Jiricek. The Wild will potentially have both Hunt and Jiricek in their opening-night lineup.
The last player claimed was Ilya Solovyov, who the Colorado Avalanche claimed from the Flames.
The Boston Bruins waived five players today being Victor Soderstrom, Patrick Brown, Riley Tufte, Michael Callahan, and Georgii Merkulov. All five players were battling for NHL roster spots, and all had reasonable chances, though the Bruins opted to cut them from the lineup.
The Carolina Hurricanes waived forward Givani Smith after signing him to a one-year deal. The Hurricanes brought Smith into training camp on a professional tryout, and general manager Eric Tulsky cited Smith’s size and physicality as reasons he will be a good depth option for the club.
The Tampa Bay Lightning waived goaltender Brandon Halverson, who has bounced between the American Hockey League (AHL) and ECHL for most of his career, but with uncertainty around Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning kept him around. Now that the picture is clearer around their superstar goalie, Halverson was waived as expected.
The Toronto Maple Leafs made two significant cuts to their lineup, being David Kampf and William Villeneuve. While Villeneuve was a long shot to make the roster, there was a legitimate chance, and he played well in preseason, but the Maple Leafs still opted to waive him.
For Kampf, he was looking to be the odd man out with the forwards, but after the announcement that Scott Laughton is listed as week-to-week, many expected Kampf to be reinstated into his fourth-line role with the club. Now that he is on waivers, that is a good sign that Easton Cowan will be sticking with the NHL club. Kampf carries a $2.4 million cap hit, and is likely to clear waivers.
The Washington Capitals waived forward Sheldon Rempal, the Vancouver Canucks waived Nils Aman, and the Utah Mammoth waived goaltender Matt Vilalta. All three of these players were likely headed to the AHL already.
Stay tuned at The Hockey Writers for all of the latest waivers news as the end of trainign camp continues to inch closer.
