Major news breaks as Utah places first-round pick on waivers and Wild terminate cancer survivor's contract
The Utah Hockey Club has placed Kailer Yamamoto on waivers and the Minnesota Wild has placed Pavel Novak, a cancer survivor, on unconditional waivers.
A slew of notable NHL names hit waivers on Friday, as the futures of their respective careers began to become clouded. The Utah Hockey Club waived forward Kailer Yamamoto, while the Boston Bruins placed forward Riley Tufte on waivers. Both have taken part in the NHL this year and are now up in the air. The Minnesota Wild also placed forward Pavel Novak on waivers, looking to terminate his contract in the process. Meanwhile, New York Rangers defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, who cleared waivers on Thursday, is expected to report to the club's AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
It has not been a boring stint for Kailer Yamamoto with the Utah Hockey Club so far. Having inked as a pro tryout, the 26-year-old winger had himself quite the preseason, parlaying into a one-year two-way deal. He has played three games with Utah this season, reaching a season-high 11:01 of ice time in a 2-1 overtime win against the Bruins. His most recent appearance came via a 10:44 shift during Utah's 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Through it all, Yamamoto has registered just one shot on goal and carries a minus-1 rating across three games.
Riley Tufte has been one of the quieter members of the Boston Bruins this season. He inked a one-year deal worth $775,000 in July with Boston, but he has seen only rare action thus far. Having played in only two games this year, the last appearance by Tufte came in a 5-3 Bruins victory over the Avalanche on October 16. He has averaged just more than eight minutes of ice time and also carries a minus-1 rating like Yamamoto. In four seasons in the NHL, Tufte has appeared in 20 contests, all but one with the Dallas Stars organization, where he scored two goals and an assist.
Things got a little more serious for Pavel Novak with the Minnesota Wild. A 2020 fifth-round pick, Novak has yet to make his NHL debut. After taking the 2022-23 year off due to Hodgkin's lymphoma, Novak returned and played the year split between Minnesota's AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, and their ECHL farm team, the Iowa Heartlanders. Unfortunately, he has only played two games of ice time this season with the Heartlanders and the struggles remain as he sits with a minus-1 rating across those.
These waiver moves signal a crossroads for all the players involved. A pair of Kailer Yamamoto and Riley Tufte have seen early season time in the NHL but have cloudy futures as they await their fate. The termination of Pavel Novak's contract indicates a tough journey back to professional hockey after the health battles he has had, whereas Chad Ruhwedel looks set for further action in the AHL. It will be interesting to see where these players land next through the process of waivers and how their careers take shape.
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