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Michalek, Parenteau, Scuderi amongst notables on waivers

josh cooper
GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 28: Zbynek Michalek #4 of the Arizona Coyotes gets ready during a faceoff against the Calgary Flames at Gila River Arena on March 28, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ – MARCH 28: Zbynek Michalek #4 of the Arizona Coyotes gets ready during a faceoff against the Calgary Flames at Gila River Arena on March 28, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHL teams tried to get their 23-man rosters set in advance of Tuesday’s deadline by putting several notable players on waivers.

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec was arguably the biggest name, but many others jumped out as teams looked to get under the $73 million salary cap in time for opening night.

If players aren’t picked up on waivers by noon Tuesday, they will be eligible to be assigned to the minors. Teams must submit rosters to the league by 5 p.m. eastern Tuesday.

• Arizona Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek is one of the more surprising names on the list. He signed a two-year $6.4 million contract with the team in the summer of 2015, but saw his role lessen in 2015-16. Last season the 33-year-old defenseman averaged 17:01 of ice-time per-game in 70 contests and notched just seven points.

Five for Howling explained this move:

Even assuming Arizona opts to carry eight defensemen to start this season, the Coyotes have as many as eleven possible options on the blue-line. Placing Michalek and Dahlbeck on waivers gives the Coyotes the option to re-assign them once (Michael) Stone, (Jared) Tinordi, and (Kevin) Connauton are cleared to play.

It is also good news for Jakob Chychrun’s NHL chances. Arizona’s coaching staff has been bullish about Chychrun since rookie camp opened in early September. Today’s move makes it extremely likely that Chychrun will be on the Coyotes to start the season.

Arizona has just $862,162 million of cap space, though a lot of that is dead salary taken up by Pavel Datsyuk, Mike Ribeiro, Chris Pronger and Antoine Vermette.

• The New York Islanders surprised many by deciding to place 32-year-old scoring winger P.A. Parenteau on waivers. The hope was Parenteau could rekindle prior magic with Jon Tavares but that seems unlikely at this point. New York signed Parenteau to a one-year $1.25 million contract last summer after he scored 20 goals in 77 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season in a solid camp. In 2011-12, his prior season with the Islanders, Parenteau notched 67 points in 80 games. According to Newsday’s Arthur Staple, Parenteau played one game with Tavares in the preseason. This made it unlikely for the two to mesh in advance of the upcoming year

Lighthouse Hockey pointed out that the team had a lot of young players ready to make an impact, but they didn’t expect Parenteau to get waived because of this.

So something had to give. We just didn’t expect it to be Parenteau, who signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal to return to the Islanders after four years away to reunite with John Tavares. Looks like he won’t get that chance because as a 20-goal scorer making that little dough, he will almost assuredly get claimed.

• The Detroit Red Wings dangled 24-year-old forward Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers. He was a scorer with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2014-15 with 61 points and 34 goals in 46 games, but this hasn’t translated to NHL success. Last year he had 12 points in 36 games with the Red Wings. He makes just $812,500 per-year, and is slated to be a restricted free agent next summer. If Pulkkinen is claimed or sent to the minors, the Detroit Free Press points out it could open up a spot for either Andreas Athanasiou or Anthony Mantha.

• The Kings tried to free up some room by placing 37-year-old Rob Scuderi on waivers. He’s on the hook for another $1.125 million of salary this season and the Kings have just $679,773 of space. Los Angeles acquired Scuderi last season in a trade that included Christian Ehrhoff, but Scuderi may be expendable now with the signing of Tom Gilbert and return of Matt Greene.

• The Tampa Bay Lightning are another team facing a salary cap crunch and put forward Erik Condra ($1.25 million cap hit per-year) on waivers along with forwards Cory Conacher ($575,000 cap hit) and Joel Vermin ($575,000 at the NHL level). The team is trying to come to a contract with restricted forward Nikita Kucherov, and has $5,866,667 of salary cap space currently. It’s unclear if Kucherov’s next deal would merit more than that but a contract near $6 million would seem to make sense for him.

• Other waiver notables include Calgary Flames forward Brandon Bollig ($1.25 million cap hit) as that team tries to make room for RFA forward Johnny Gaudreau, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Mike Condon ($575,000 cap hit), and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Gregory Campbell ($1.5 million cap hit). The 26-year-old Condon could be intriguing based off his age, his salary, and the fact that he played 55 games with the Canadiens last season. During the offseason, the Habs signed veteran backup Al Montoya, which signaled the team had moved on from Condon. Habs Eyes on the Prize pointed out Condon struggled when thrust into the starting role after an injury to starter Carey Price.

Among all goaltenders that started 30 games or more, only Eddie Lack’s save percentage (.901) was lower than Condon’s (.903). His goals-saved-above-average stat was also second worse in the league (-16.86). He did not look good in pre-season action over the last few weeks, and the Canadiens will count on someone else to be Price’s backup this season.

Here is the full list of players on waivers via TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!