Five prominent players end up on NHL waivers before opening night

Hockey is back, as the new NHL year officially kicked off yesterday with the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2, while the Pittsburgh Penguins upset the New York Rangers and former coach Mike Sullivan with a 3-0 win in Manhattan.

But before the 1st games of the new year, several prominent players were put on waivers, including 2 goaltenders.

The Buffalo Sabres put Alexandar Georgiev on waivers, and the Anaheim Ducks did the same with Ville Husso. Both goalies have struggled in recent years and found themselves being flipped to new teams; Georgiev was traded from the Colorado Avalanche last year to the San Jose Sharks, while Husso was traded from the Red Wings to the Ducks.

Jeremy Davies, who was waived by the Vegas Golden Knights, has only 23 games of NHL experience, and Kevin Rooney, who was waived by the Utah Mammoth, played 70 games last year for the Calgary Flames.

Juha Jaaska played 18 games last year with the Hurricanes, who put him on waivers.

Alexandar Georgiev was once considered one of the better up and coming goalies with the New York Rangers, but he didn't get much playing time behind Igor Shesterkin.

He was then traded to the Colorado Avalanche to replace Darcy Kuemper, who helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2022. Georgiev helped the Avalanche to the playoffs in both of his years with the team, but was then traded himself last year after struggling with consistency.