Penguins Toss Ilya Solovyov on Waivers as Defensive Shuffle Continues

The NHL waiver wire in October is basically a digital yard sale where nobody actually wants to buy anything.

PuckPedia just dropped today's transaction log, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are tossing defenseman Ilya Solovyov onto the pile.

"PuckPedia reported the waiver wire update, noting Solovyov's placement and the clearing of Leason, Noesen, and Stillman."

Meanwhile, Brett Leason, Stefan Noesen, and Riley Stillman all cleared from yesterday's batch. That means 31 other front offices looked at their contracts, watched the tape, and collectively decided they were good.

Pittsburgh making a defensive shuffle right now tracks perfectly with the product on the ice. The Penguins are sitting at 1-2 after dropping a 5-3 game to the Washington Capitals and a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

When you give up eight goals in two nights, the bottom of the blue line is usually the first place a coach looks to send a message.

The San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils, and Edmonton Oilers can now stash Leason, Noesen, and Stillman in the minors without sweating a claim. Hitting the wire this early in the season usually means you are just waiting for a team to suffer a catastrophic injury crisis and get desperate.

For anyone looking at the betting markets for Pittsburgh to suddenly lock down their defensive zone, this is just a minor deck-chair rearrangement. The Penguins have a brutal back-to-back starting tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets before hosting the Dallas Stars tomorrow.

Solovyov will almost certainly clear by tomorrow afternoon. Until Pittsburgh figures out how to stop bleeding goals, expect the bottom of this roster to keep spinning like a revolving door.