The Detroit Red Wings have placed forward Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers.
DET puts Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers.
MTL puts Mike Condon on waivers— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 10, 2016
Pulkkinen is the second player placed on the waiver wire by the Red Wings, after Martin Frk was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday morning.
Teemu Pulkkinen Placed on Waivers
Placing Pulkkinen on waivers means that one of either Anthony Mantha or Andreas Athanasiou have made the team. While this is encouraging for these two promising youngsters, losing Pulkkinen is a huge blow. At 24-years-old, Pulkkinen recorded 12 points in 36 games for the Red Wings last season. He’s got a wicked shot, though at times inaccurate. He was given an opportunity in 2015-16 to be an everyday NHL player and started to come into his own with six goals before an injury set him back for the rest of the year.
Pulkkinen’s been a victim of the Red Wings bottleneck at forward, which is being clogged up by veteran players. In 2014-16, Pulkkinen recorded 61 points in 46 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. All he did was set the team rookie record for goals with 31 in his first full AHL season then break his own record with 34 the next year. Pulkkinen’s ceiling is so high that he’ll surely be claimed. The Toronto Maple Leafs have first right of refusal on him.
Frustration in Hockeytown
This should add to the frustration of fans who continue to try to understand roster moves such as these. How do Steve Ott and Drew Miller have a roster spot on this team while Pulkkinen and Frk are dismissed of? The frustration is even fueled even more by the fact that they were lost for nothing.
Not to mention that Tomas Jurco, currently on the IR, will have to be dealt with once he’s healthy. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland will have to orchestrate some trades in order to not lose any more promising prospects to the wire.
Final Roster To Be Set By Tuesday
As we inch closer to Tuesday’s 5:00 PM deadline to have the final rosters set, one can’t help but wonder what other questionable moves Holland and his coaching staff will make. Stay tuned here as we’ll be covering all of the action.
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