Tampa Bay Lightning C Tyler Johnson was unexpectedly placed on waivers on Friday and many believed it would be the Detroit Red Wings who would end up claiming him by Saturday at noon.
http://gty.im/475796746
Well, high noon has come and gone and Johnson was not claimed by Red Wings GM, Steve Yzerman. In fact, no team put in a claim for the Stanley Cup Champion.
But according to Brad Krysko of the Winged Wheel Podcast, Johnson clearing waivers opens up another opportunity for the Red Wings.
Krysko notes that Tampa clearly wants to unload Johnson’s contract but the fact that he cleared waivers just means they were not able to do that for free. The Lightning will still be trying to unload Johnson’s contract but they will have to give up a “sweetner” for a team to bite.
Could that team be the Detroit Red Wings? Should it be?
Johnson clearing does open up another opportunity for Detroit.
Tampa clearly just wanted to unload his contract and couldn’t for free. They still need cap space and will likely have to give up a sweetener to someone to take a bad contract.
— Brad Krysko WWP 🇺🇦 (@BradKrysko) October 10, 2020
I’d like to see Redwings do what they did for the Staal trade but worth way more since its 4 years.
Detroit Sends 2021 5th Round Pick to Tampa for:
Tyler Johnson (1.5m retained salary)
2021 1st Round Pick
2021 7th Round Pick (they have 3)