Two veterans have hit waivers today, as Artem Anisimov of the Ottawa Senators and Scott Harrington of the Columbus Blue Jackets are available for claim, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.
Anisimov already cleared in February, but has bounced back and forth from the taxi squad to the active roster enough to need his waiver clock reset. Despite spending some of the time on injured reserve, the veteran forward has played ten games since he cleared, meaning if the team wanted to put him back on the taxi squad or in the minor leagues, he needed to go through the process again.
The 32-year-old Anisimov has played in just 14 games this season and has four points, totals that compare poorly even to his disappointing 2019-20 campaign. He scored 15 goals for the Senators last year, though he was still obviously a shell of his former self. Carrying a $4.55M cap hit, there’s virtually no chance that another team claims Anisimov at this point.
Harrington meanwhile has continued to serve in a depth role for the Blue Jackets, playing just six games this season. The 28-year-old defenseman is closing in on 200 games in his NHL career, but doesn’t represent much more than an injury replacement or taxi squad filler at this point. For his cap hit of $1.63M that’s not enough, meaning it should come as much of a surprise that he finds himself on waivers.
By moving Harrington to the taxi squad or waivers, the Blue Jackets can bury $1.075M of his cap hit. He also appears to be a potential buyout candidate for the summer when he will still have one year remaining on his deal. Despite the fact that he is a defenseman, Harrington also seems unlikely to be claimed given his cap hit.
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