Panthers, Canucks and Golden Knights place 5 players on NHL waivers today

Another day, another crop of players available on NHL waivers.

Today, the Florida Panthers have waived goaltender Chris Driedger and forward Mackenzie Entwhistle, while the Vancouver Canucks have waived defenseman Mark Friedman and the Vegas Golden Knights have waived the recently claimed Raphael Lavoie.

Driedger's demotion likely means that 23 year old Spencer Knight has reclaimed his spot with the Panthers after a season away from the team while working through the NHLPA's substance abuse and behavioral program. I sincerely hope him the best in the upcoming season. I'd love to see him turn into a success story.

It will also be fascinating to see what happens with Lavoie. After all, the Golden Knights claimed him off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers just a day ago. I wouldn't be surprised to see him picked back up by the Oilers again.

Stay tuned.

Read below for yesterday's waiver news.

Five players have been claimed on NHL waivers today, including a couple goaltenders.

The full list:

The most interesting, and frankly funny, move has to be the Vancouver Canucks' claim on goaltender Jiri Patera. The Czech goaltender was of course claimed off of waivers by the Boston Bruins from the Canucks last week. Now, just 5 days later he's back with the Canucks. With the Bruins finally ending their contract stalemate with Jeremy Swayman over the weekend, there was simply no place left on the Bruins' roster for Patera. Because the Canucks were the only team to make a claim on Patera, he can be assigned directly to the team's AHL affiliate without needing to clear waivers again.

James Reimer is another interesting claim because it could indicate a trade coming for the Anaheim Ducks, sooner rather than later. The veteran goaltender joins a jammed crease in Anaheim with John Gibson and Lukas Dostal holding things down. The rumors are though that the Ducks would prefer for Dostal to get the lion's share of the net and that Gibson is available for trade. Does Reimer's acquisition point to a deal in the works? Stay tuned.

As far as the other players claimed, Vegas loses veteran Zach Aston-Reese, but they gain two young players in Cole Schwindt and Raphael Lavoie. 

It's also worth noting that everyone else placed on waivers yesterday has cleared without being claimed. This includes the newly acquired Erik Brannstrom of the Canucks and Pierre Engvall of the New York Islanders.