Garth Snow may have waiver claims to make

New York Islander Fan Central | 2/27/2009 02:00:00 PM |
Some may feel Islander general manager Garth Snow is done with the waiver wire and that could be true, however with a lot of teams looking to clear cap space to improve we could see some very interesting names placed on waivers or even recall waivers.

Snow already passed on Mark Bell from the Leafs and some goaltenders but unless he plans on giving Jeremy Colliton, Trevor Smith, Jesse Joensuu, Mike Iggulden, Kurtis McLean, Tomas Marcinko or Ben Walter a call he could well need players just to finish his final twenty one games.

There is also a clear-day list to prepare for Bridgeport.

Snow makes a trade for picks he may need a waiver or two to fill out a lineup.

Bridgeport has depth issues also and a playoff spot to secure with a lot of weekday games the rest of the way. They will play more of an NHL-like schedule.

Also keep an eye on players who are sat down or take a day off (see Ryan Whitney) as everyone knows by now he was traded to Anaheim.

Philadelphia placed center Glen Metropolit, 34, and defenseman Ossi Vaananen, on NHL waivers Thursday, clearing $2 million to find cap room for Daniel Briere's return, Metropolit has another year remaining on his contract, Vaananen, an unrestricted free agent after this season, make $1 million.

Just the fact the Islanders may lose Witt via suspension/trade and Martinek to injury/trade Snow may claim someone to fill out the NHL depth on his roster with Campoli, Skinner gone and no sign of Meyer, Pock or Sutton in the near future.

The depth department on the backline is very thin now with Andrew MacDonald, Chris Lee from Islander camp, Dustin Kohn, Jamie Fraser, Jon Gleed and Mark Wotton in Bridgeport.

Islanders have first call on all waivers, regardless how many players are placed on the list. If they go on re-call he has first choice again.

Garth Snow may need to make a claim just to stay above the cap floor if he moves a few veterans with larger salaries to compensate.

That could happen sooner than Tuesday, enough was written on Avery who's status has to be decided by then or he's stuck with Dallas.

A little twist to the rules after the trade deadline is anyone placed on waivers/or re-entry waivers cannot play for their new team in the regular season or in playoff games if claimed.

You can call this the Jeff Hamilton rule for all our Islander-Sound Tiger fans who remember all the times he was placed on waivers at the end of the season.

In most cases that allows teams to make call-ups without much risk of losing a player but in Garth Snow's case it could help him build his roster for next season.








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