In today’s News & Notes, the Buffalo Sabres have placed a forward on unconditional waivers for purpose of terminating his contract, the Boston Bruins had perfect attendance at practice for the first time all season, Olli Juolevi is out for the season and Jujhar Khaira will have a hearing for a cross-check.
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Berglund on Unconditional Waivers
The Sabres have placed Patrik Berglund on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. This situation came to light recently when Berglund refused to report to the team and was promptly suspended. This prompted the discussion that Berglund’s time in Buffalo may be over.
Sabres forward Patrik Berglund has been placed on unconditional waivers with the intent to terminate his contract. There will be no further information or comment at this time.
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) December 19, 2018
The veteran center was acquired by the Sabres in the offseason as a part of the trade that sent Ryan O’Reilly to St. Louis. As a result, the Sabres will save $2,235,484 in cap space for the remainder of the season as that was the remaining cap hit for Berglund in 2018-19. They’ll also save his full $3.85 million cap hit for the three remaining years on his deal.
In 23 games this season, Berglund has scored two goals and four points. There should be some interest for the 30-year-old on the open market given he scored 23 goals and 17 goals in the last two seasons respectively.
Bruins Full Practice
For the first time all season, the Bruins had perfect attendance at their practice.
Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron celebrates with left wing Brad Marchand and defenseman Kevan Miller. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)
This is a very positive development for the team given the fact that they’ve lost over 150 man-games due to injury this season, including injuries to Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Jake DeBrusk, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Urho Vaakanainen, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and others.
Wednesday saw multiple players return to practice for the team, including Bergeron, Chara, DeBrusk, Vaakanainen and Miller. Though Bergeron, Miller and Chara were both reported to be sporting contact-jerseys, it turns out that Chara, DeBrusk and Vaakanainen were not eligible for contact. The Bruins didn’t have a non-contact jersey on-hand that was big enough for Chara for the session.
Miller could slot into the lineup soon if the team determines it’s the right move while Bergeron will likely be unavailable Thursday but a possibility for a weekend return.
Juolevi Out for Season
The Vancouver Canucks got some bad news when they learned that Juolevi would miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury that would require surgery. While he may not have gotten a call-up this season, this is still an unfortunate obstacle in his development.
Vancouver Canucks defenseman Olli Juolevi (Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports)
The 20-year-old Juolevi was taken with the fifth pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and was having a very good start to his professional career in North America with one goal and 13 points in 18 games with the AHL’s Utica Comets.
Juolevi also scored seven goals and 19 points in 38 games last season with TPS Turku of SM-Liiga. He would follow that up with two goals and seven points in 11 postseason contests before making the jump to North America.
Khaira to Have NHL DoPS Hearing
Tuesday’s game between the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers got ugly and led to some very dangerous plays in a short period of time. Though there were discretions on both sides, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety has ultimately determined that Khaira’s cross-check to Blues’ defender Vince Dunne was the only action worthy of a possible suspension.
(Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)
The Department of Player Safety did fine Dunne $1,942.20 (the maximum allowed under the CBA) for a cross-check of his own to Khaira, however, which will likely create a stir among both fanbases for the inconsistencies in determining supplemental discipline.
