Week Nine Waiver Draft (Dec 2)

We almost made it through the 1st round of the Waiver Draft on Tuesday, just ever so close... only two picks short.  Nevertheless, it has been a pretty good push to this point, so we'll quickly go over what we saw on Tuesday, hoping that the second round gets going here soon.

Picks 14 through 25 were more about the veterans, rather than the rookies and more about the skaters, than the goalies.

Eric led off the day with a defenseman, taking Colin Miller from the Bruins, who has been playing in the top two pairs for a Boston team that their power play has improved greatly this season.  Rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was the next defenseman taken, down in the 20th spot by Brenda & Seward and he's been making an impression since his call-up a couple of weeks ago.  He'll be hard to send down, if they do.  Rounding out the defensemen on the day was another Bruin, Dennis Seidenberg, who got a late jump to the season, due to injury, but John S. may have found a suitable replacement for a blueliner that is now stuck in the minors.

Up front, teams were trying to rustle up whatever offense they could find, as Scott dropped a major injury for Teemu Pulkkinen in Detroit, Dale C. dropped a major dud for Jason Chimera in Washington, Stuart let go of a constant scratch for Tobias Rieder in Arizona, Brian added Jannik Hansen in Vancouver for somewhat of a disappointment, Troy cut his losses on a late pick, adding Leo Komarov of the Leafs instead, while Dale B. dropped a Duck, added a Flame in David Jones and Neil swapped centres, picking up Travis Zajac of the Devils.

Possibly the biggest storyline of the day was in the crease, as Ryan snagged Garret Sparks, who became the first Leafs goalie ever to register a shutout in his NHL debut for the team. With the Leafs' problems in the crease, Sparks was a pleasant surprise, shutting down the Oilers on Monday night, obviously catching the eye of a bargain hunter like Ryan.

Sparks will reportedly get another start on Wednesday night, but the understanding is that James Reimer is still the number one in town, as the former number one, Jonathan Bernier, will get some time on an AHL conditioning stint to help find his game, but there is plenty of intrigue here.

Taken with the pick before, Clayton also tried to take advantage of a poor goalie situation, this time in Anaheim, as he snagged John Gibson, who has been running the hot hand for the Ducks, possibly taking the job away from Frederik Andersen in the process.  Interesting situations all the way around.

Let's hope that the second round is just as interesting.