Garnet Hathaway has signed a new contract with the Calgary Flames.

he will be hard pressed to find a roster spot this season will likely be on waivers within the first half of the season

doesnt need to be on waivers to start in ahl. my guess is he stays unless hes made a huge jump. completely agree i dont have a roster spot for him either.

Hathaway is 26 and is no longer eligible to be sent down without first clearing waivers. Cap Friendly clearly denotes this with a little green down arrow (if a player can be sent to the AHL without having to first pass waivers).

That being said, I find it exptremely unlikely that he wouldn’t clear waivers. The team picking him up would have to keep them on their active roster (and pick up his cap hit and include him as one of their 50 contracts). Most teams have limited wiggle room to add many players so tend to leave “Tweeners” such as Hathaway alone. Should be get an opportunity with another team good for him - Calgary wouldn’t be too upset by that should it occur.

Over a PPG in the AHL and 15 points in 60 NHL games. He will most likely get claimed unless he somehow slides through during pre-season when every other team puts their guys on waivers

Well, I beg to respectfully disagree. Players such as Hathaway clear Waivers all the time. I won’t say it’s a certainty, but easily less than a 20% chance another team takes up a roster spot for a player who they haven’t been able to see and assess first-hand. As Waivers are revocable, Calgary will then pull him back and work out a trade with the interested party (or another team offering more) should that occur.

Can you give me a similar example where a player of this caliber (similar age/talent)? It wouldn't surprise me if he made it through waivers, but it also wouldn't surprise if he was claimed

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There are countless. Just last year Austin Czarnik of the Bruins (and now, ironically, the Flames) was sent down (clearing waivers) twice.

In 2015/16, he spent the whole year in the AHL putting up 61 points in 68 games. The next year he split the time 66/33 betw NHL/AHL being a PPG player in the AHL. Last season he cleared waivers and continued to impress at the AHL level. At the time Czarnik (Dec 1992) was over a year younger than Hathaway (Nov 1991) is now so should have been an even more promising and likely waiver pick-up. But he wasn’t. Twice.

Both were entering their UFA year (tho Czarnik was a Group 6, whereas Hathaway is a standard UFA) and both were US College grads (who spent all 4 years in College). Both were undrafted nobody’s who have done remarkably well to make it to where they are.

Hathaway has a bit more NHL experience but not much but Czarnik is younger with a higher ceiling by all accounts.

Claiming anybody on waivers is a double-edged sword. You get to take somebody off another team's roster without giving up assets, but then that person has to be on your NHL roster and takes up a spot that might have gone to somebody else you liked more. Besides, at the beginning of the year, everybody's trying to figure out what their opening night roster will look like, and claiming somebody off waivers throws an additional wrench into that plan.

Sure, somebody could claim Hathaway off waivers, but it's more likely he'd turn into the next Frank Corrado than have a meaningful impact at the NHL level.

I know it SEEMS WRONG to let these promising players (who would potentially cost nothing to acquire) slip thru one’s fingers, but for each action requires another reaction on your club. What player do you cut and likely put thru waivers to lose? Do you have enough space under the 50 contract limit (and will You have enough after doing this to provide for flexibility down the road)?

Ultimately I think it’s genefally an axiom that’s NHL GMs don’t aggressively pick other Teams players off Waivers as it’s a way to keep systems and teams intact - as surprisingly few players are waiver eligible. There could (and perhaps should) be more claims made but it rarely occurs.

I think a more likely prospect for a Waiver pick-up would be Winnipeg’s Nic Petan, should he not make the Jets roster. Given the chose of Hathaway or Petan, who would you choose? As I wrote about in the Petan thread, what will likely occur is a trade (as waivers are revocable) with the interested team (or another team altogether) rather than lose him for nothing.

Agreeed. And I wrote almost the exact same thing in response, LOL

I like what you said about the hecticness of the end of Camp and managing one’s own roster. Better the devil you know I suppose?

Who would be a likely waiver pick-up (or a trade subsequent to a revocation of Waivers)? I think Petan has a chance given Winnipeg’s forward depth. Any others? Vegas has too many forwards too.

I wouldn't think too hard about "likely" waiver pickups. The ones everyone thinks should be picked up by somebody always clear, and the random schmucks who you wouldn't think twice about get claimed.

You put a lot of research into this comment. Thank you for actually having a conversation with me instead of being an Idiot like everybody else on this website. You managed to change my mind here

You’re very welcome! You guys just need a gal to come in and bring some civility to the discussion. :-)

Like I said it’s counter-intuitive. We have an innate bias (as do GMs) to favour players who we already have and are invested it. Also, making any move carries inherent risk so the default is to do as little as possible often, for better or worse.

Ain’t that the truth. Sure Tomas Jurco (who hasn’t even been able to get a contract yet) will be snagged and we’ll all be scratching our heads.

I'd keep an eye on that Mansplaining Detector™ if I were you; it's bound to go off real soon.

(disclaimer: I don't think women somehow innately know any less than men do about sports and need sports, or anything else, explained to them in a condescending fashion; I'm just being snarky and cynical)