NHL Waiver Wire Roulette: Predators and Capitals Go Shopping While Avalanche Dump AHL Star

The NHL waiver wire is basically a garage sale where general managers trade their slightly dented depth pieces. Today's edition features a mix of injury returns, minor-league scorers, and guys who average more penalty minutes than actual shifts.

The Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals decided to go shopping, claiming defensemen Daemon Hunt and Jack St. Ivany, respectively. To make room, the Predators tossed Jack Ahcan onto the wire, joining Georgii Merkulov from the Colorado Avalanche and Kurtis MacDermid from the Ottawa Senators.

"PuckPedia reported the waiver placements of Merkulov, Ahcan, and MacDermid, along with the claims of Hunt and St. Ivany."

Merkulov is the most fascinating name on the discard pile. The 26-year-old forward just came off season-opening non-roster injured reserve for Colorado. He racked up 61 points in the AHL last year for Providence, but apparently, that offensive upside was not enough to keep him safe from the waiver shuffle.

Then you have MacDermid in Ottawa. The Senators just got blown out 6-2 by the San Jose Sharks, which is the exact kind of embarrassing loss that makes front offices rethink their life choices.

MacDermid recently came off an upper-body injury and is famous for averaging a microscopic four minutes of ice time while racking up 33 penalty minutes in a 19-game stretch. He is basically a human wrecking ball you deploy for one shift a period, which is a tough sell in the modern NHL.

Nashville claiming Hunt while waiving Ahcan is classic early-season roster gymnastics. The Predators just got absolutely dismantled 6-0 by the Boston Bruins, so shaking up the defensive depth chart is the bare minimum response.

If you are looking at the betting markets and hoping Nashville bounces back anytime soon, you might want to wait and see if these fringe moves actually stop the bleeding. Swapping out depth defensemen rarely fixes a six-goal deficit.

We will find out tomorrow if anyone takes a flier on Merkulov's minor-league scoring touch or MacDermid's penalty-box residency. Until then, expect the bottom-six blender to keep spinning as teams try to figure out their early-season identities.