Total of 25 players on waivers on Friday!

We knew it was going to get busy ahead of the weekend as the NHL’s roster cutdown day is Monday, Oct. 7. Teams that need players to clear waivers before assigning them to the minors will have to proceed at the latest on Sunday, since the rest of the league can claim those players in a 24-hour period.

On Friday, 25 players were placed on waivers with the Pittsburgh Penguins placing six on the wire, the New Jersey Devils with five, both the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals with three, the Philadelphia Flyers with two, and the Anaheim Ducks, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs pushing one player on there.

Harkins (ANA)
DiPietro, Lettieri, Oesterle (BOS)
Lockwood (FLA)
Ward (LA)
Dowling, Hardman, Laberge, Legare, Willman (NJ)
Lycksell, Richard (PHI)
Bemstrom, Clurman, Gruden, Koppanen, Kral, Ludvig, Poulin (PIT)
Tomkins (TB)
Steeves (TOR)
Bear, Philp, Sgarbossa (WASH)

In Boston, it is not too surprising to see DiPietro placed on waivers as the Bruins claimed goaltender Jiri Patera on there on Wednesday.

It is quite surprising however to see the Capitals place defenseman Ethan Bear on the wire. Bear entered this year’s camp competing for a spot on a crowded Capitals blue line after Washington acquired both Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy, over the offseason. Fighting for a spot on the main roster, Bear will however have to wait. He is now free to be claimed by any team over the next 24 hours. If he does not get claimed, he will join up with the AHL’s Hershey Bears at their Training Camp.
After getting some treatment from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, Bear returned to Washington and played in 24 games for the Capitals last season. He put up a goal and four points and has one year remaining on his contract at a $2.1 million cap hit.

The Caps also placed center Michael Sgarbossa and center Luke Philp on the wire with Bear, as Philp continues rehabilitating from an injury.

In Toronto, it’s the former NCAA standout Alex Steeves who has landed on waivers after scoring 23 goals and 23 assists in his first campaign with the Marlies; adding 46 goals and 62 assists in the following two seasons including 27 goals last year for Toronto.

As for Thursday's waiver wire, everyone cleared and will be assigned to their respective farm club.