Reports out of Pittsburgh today claim the Penguins will place Mark Recchi on re-entry waivers only one day after demoting him to their minor league affiliate after he cleared waivers at noon ET on Thursday.
The demotion was done merely as a "procedural move" according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Given how quickly the Pens have placed Recchi on re-entry waivers, it would indicate there is interest in Recchi provided he's recalled, as any team claiming him now would only have to pick up half of his remaining salary.
**UPDATE** The Atlanta Thrashers claimed Recchi Saturday off re-entry waivers from the Penguins.
Recchi will bring considerable veteran experience to the Thrashers lineup, and if he can rediscover his scoring touch that appeared to elude him earlier this season, could provide them with some necessary second line scoring depth to perhaps take some pressure off the club's top line.
It'll be interesting to see which line he's placed on. It's possible he could be placed on the second line, possibly with Ilya Kovalchuk.
I'd love to hear the opinion of Thrashers fans on this.
1) We wondered if he'd actually (have to) report. Would seem a bit demeaning to a possible future HOF-er to be riding the busses.
2) Good to see the Pens are doing the right thing by bringing him back through re-entry waivers making it more likely he'll be snatched by someone.
Eastern Conference - Washington
Given how well Recchi was last year with Crosby around, I'd be pretty surprised if the Caps pass his easily affordable salary. The Caps are struggling (20 pts) and need a consistent vetern player.
Western Conference - Phoenix
Finally the Coyotes have stability between the pipes they could expand it and put some kind of stability on their offense. Mark Recchi is affordable and who knows, he could play a huge part for that team.
Mark Recchi is going to a contributor no matter where he goes, I guess Pittsburgh just never had room for him no more which is surprising...Recchi had 68 pts last year. Scott Gomez never hit that mark last year and he's making 10 mil this year. For less than a mil, Mark Recchi is worth every penney in my opinion.
He could easily be going just about anywhere; Washington and Phoenix are more likely because they're lower in the standings and have 'dibs', so to speak, but I'm sure more teams are interested.
As I understand it, there's $658,000 remaining on his contract to be covered by whomever picks him up -- 2 million a year, minus the 28 of 82 games already played, and then split in half.
For a career ppg player (with over 1350 games to boot), $658 isn't much, even for an older player who is under-performing this year.
It just boils down to the fact that Recchi lost his job to Tyler Kennedy. No on is suggesting Kennedy is a better NHL player than Recchi, whose 500 goals should put him in the Hall of Fame. It's just that right now, the Pens have 4 RW who fit their roles better than Recchi would at this point in his career.
1. Colby Armstrong is on the top line. recchi was given ample opportunity to prove he could produce with Crosby at the start of the season and only netted 2 goals. Colby may not be the answer either, but after starting the season in the Atlantic division basement, it's hard to fault Therrien for giving Armstrong a shot.
2. Petr Sykora is Malkin's RW. the two are clicking right now and there's no reason to remove a 31 yr. old who is producing for a 38 yr. old who isn't.
3. Tyler Kennedy fits onto the 3rd line perfectly. He's an energy player who creates opportunities for himself and teammates. This would be the best spot for Recchi, but Kennedy probably developed quicker than the Pens thought.
4. George Laraque is the protype checking line RW, and there's no one in the NHL who could play this role better.
Plus, the Pens top prospect, Johnathon Filewich is also a RW.
I would like to see him come home to British Columbia. He would look good on a line with Morrison and Cooke, but the Canucks are likely too high in the standings to get him.
Does anyone know how this affects Pitt's cap? If the claiming team is only responsible for 1/2, is Pitt still responsible for the other 1/2, or just the games that he played with the team?
As much as I want the Oilers to stay young and play the kids plenty, the opportunity to pick-up Recchi on re-entry waivers would be a nice short-term addition to the team. He's a good, solid character guy and would be an excellent mentor, much in the way that Garry Unger was in the early 1980s and Adam Oates was in the 2003-04 season.
Of course, this is likely all somewhat academic with the Oilers up against the contract cap. I'm not immediately aware of the process they'd need to go through to drop a contract at the minor league level (or if they can even do so midseason).
As a side note, Jarret Stoll and Raffi Torres have both been announced as healthy scratches for tonight's game against St. Louis. MacTavish is punting them to the pressbox for the lack of work ethic that contributed to the third period melt down against Pittsburgh Wednesday night. I hope those guys take the wake up call to heart; they both can be great players when they want to be. (Stoll's been cut a lot of slack with his post-concussion symptoms. It looks like this year he'll play in the fog and we've got to hope he'll be better next season.)
Torres-Stoll-Recchi. That sounds like it could be a heck of a shutdown line, doesn't it?
Actually, while I hate seeing Jarret Stoll banned to the pressbox, I'm pretty jazzed about Liam Reddox potentially making his first start tonight. (I stress "potentially" as I was cruelly teased a couple of weeks back when the Oilers recalled Reddox and he sat for three games without dressing and then got sent back to the minors.)
Is Liam the second coming of Wayne Gretzky? Of course not. But he's a mid-round draft pick that played as an overager in junior, started out as a pro in the ECHL, graduated to the AHL, and has slowly blossomed into a good hockey player in Springfield. These are the kind of kids you can't help but like to see make it to the NHL. (Back in my playing days I was a third line grinder; I admit to having an irrational affection for the Kelly Buchbergers of the world.)
Plus, you've got to admit that's a GREAT hockey name: Liam Reddox!
If Liam plays tonight he'll be the 394th player in Oilers history, and the 10th new player on the team this year. (Name them all!) He'll also be the 114th Oilers draft pick to suit up in the NHL out of a total of 299 players drafted over the years.
GO LIAM!
*** continued ***
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on December 7th at 1:15 PM.
As for the Oilers picking up Recchi, I can have him AND Reddox too. We'll just bench Thoresen. He's only an undrafted free agent signed by the Oilers. Since I haven't argued that Kevin Lowe has done a reasonably good job of signing undrafted free agents, Patrick can sit and it doesn't cost me any debating points.
Recchi back to Philadelphia? I've got mixed feelings about that. Second acts rarely work out well -- although Recchi going to Philly would actually be a third act -- and I'd personally rather remember one of the special guys that wore my silks at his peak than see him on his last legs.
But Philly is also the town that could give Recchi a proper send off. The guy's a potential Hall of Famer and he needs to go out right with one more run in the playoffs. He's not likely to get that in Edmonton this season.
Okay, HZG, you've convinced me. Philadelphia it is.
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on December 7th at 1:21 PM.
Two hours later and only two scant postings? They must be killing you out there in California.
I will say this, Liam Reddox is a fabulous name, even if the kid looks more like a Lil' Sparky McPhee. But, it is a great story. You know how much I adore my Stockton Thunder...
As for call-ups, I'm interested in seeing Slava Trukhno who is also appropriately named as that guy is as big as a horse. He sent some nice feeds to Claude Giroux all of last year. I was impressed.
Rex looks mighty fine in Orange and Black. I think that he'd be a welcomed addition, but I fear he'd be waived again should the Flyers be healthy (Gagne plus no new injuries). I'd love to bench Hartnell until eternity and have Rex play instead, but they can't let 4.2MM sit like that. And with Tolpeko playing like he's been here before, Rex could actually help another side in more of a dramatic way. Besides, All-Star Fitzpatrick already owns #8. What a shame.
I think Washington is going to kick themselves for passing on him, and I'd love to see Recchi back in orange and black but I knew it wasn't going to happen. I think he'll do fine in Atlanta and hopefully make Pittsburgh think twice about what they done. Its good tho, divisional rivals passing up good players, good stuff.
as a season ticket holder for the penguins i can say honestly that Recchi is done. He is a step slower than he was a year ago and it is starting to show in some of the dumb penalties that he was taking this year. Yes he scored 68 points last year, but i think he has a total of 4 goals in his last 40 games, which was why he was in the press box to begin with. I am not sure he will ever regain his scoring touch, he is more of a 3rd or fouth liner. If you can't bury the puck playing with crosby there isnt much Kovalchuk is going to do, since the latter isnt much of a set up guy anyway. Best of luck to Mark, but this is the only way it could of ended. there is a reason no one would trade for him and salary was only part of it.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
