Zach Boychuk, Frazer McLaren claimed on waivers; Cam Janssen clears

UPDATED JAN 31: Of the three players placed on NHL waivers yesterday (see article below), two have been claimed on waivers:

No surprise that Zach Boychuk was claimed, but a little unexpected that he made it all the way down (“up”) to Pittsburgh Penguins, meaning that over 20 teams passed on him before a claim finally went through. For Boychuk this should represent an outstanding opportunity to show his stuff. Pittsburgh is stacked down the middle with Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, and Brandon Sutter, but a little thin on the flanks. The Penguins are off to an indifferent start so may be looking to shake things up a bit. For a kid who was staring a minor-league gig in the face an hour ago, he could hardly ask for better.

Frazer McLaren was claimed by Toronto Maple Leafs. Even after Brian Burke’s departure, the Leafs seem dead set on adding more truculence and bellicosity, adding a 6’5, 250 pound slugger to the mix. As my colleague Jon Willis pointed out on Twitter, in 2010-11 McLaren had four times as many fighting majors as shots on goal. Maybe McLaren will wind up on the Triple Redundancy with Mike Brown and Colton Orr.

Cam Janssen, meanwhile, cleared waivers and will presumably report to Albany Devils. Perhaps a little surprising that the Leafs didn’t take him!

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NHL veteran Cam Janssen waived by New Jersey Devils; should Oilers have any interest?

Zach Boychuk, Frazer McLaren also waived; Yann Danis clears waivers and rejoins OKC Barons

Not every day a 28-year-old with over 300 games played in the NHL comes up on the waiver wire, but such is the case today with news that the New Jersey Devils have waived veteran enforcer Cam Janssen.

Most of what you need to know about Janssen can be seen in his boxcar stats over eight (!) seasons in the NHL. During that time he has compiled 311 GP, 3-8-11, -29, 750 PiM. A more detailed look at his career “progression” shows that Janssen has always been the same guy: dressing for half to two-thirds of his team’s games (43-56 GP range), playing under 5 minutes a night, and annually ringing up high-penalty-minutes, a low minus, and zero offence.

Hard to ring up a high minus in <5 minutes a night, mind, but he does come by those minus figures honestly. Not only was Janssen a minus player in all eight of his NHL seasons, the same statement applies to his four partial seasons in the AHL and, before that, his three OHL seasons. Since he broke into major junior twelve years ago, Janssen has been a minus player every single year, and in multiple leagues in three of those seasons. He might be a mean so-and-so, but that’s no mean feat!

Rdiculous to think the guy has had an NHL job all this time, but such is the persistent nature of the “every team needs a tough guy” myth that fringe players like Janssen keep hanging around. Perhaps the Devils have decided having a tough guy who can actually play hockey (David Clarkson) is more what is needed in the post-Lockout III environment. It’s not like Clarkson is a newcomer — he’s also 28 and has been in Jersey for quite awhile — but perhaps attitudes such as the influential Lou Lamoriello’s are evolving. Let’s hope so.

Still, it wouldn’t surprise me if some team that’s down on its ~~luck~~ knuckle-chuckers put in a bid for him. I’m pretty sure it won’t be the Edmonton Oilers, who already have Darcy Hordichuk filling the same role. Hordichuk has even more experience (539 GP) as a high-penalty-minutes, low minus, zero offence guy in a 5-minutes-a-game-with-lots-of-nights-in-the-pressbox role. Hordichuk has only been a minus player in 12 of his 14 (!!) NHL seasons, and by the boxcars had an actual good season in 2005-06 under perennial coach-of-the-year candidate Barry Trotz. Which is one more good season than Cam Janssen has ever demonstrated he’s capable of.

Related post — Staples: Wayne Gretzky questions whether Oilers have enough toughness, unselfishness and leadership

The other issue with Janssen that likely won’t help him attract another NHL employer was a controversial Internet interview he had last summer in which both he and the interviewers demonstrated some extremely poor judgement in perpetuating homophobic attitudes. While Janssen subsequently made an apology so admirably-worded a cynic might guess it was written by somebody completely different, he offended plenty of people first. Who knows whether that toxic history might affect a GM’s decision as to whether to claim him, but it’s not likely to help. Especially a guy whose putative merits as a hockey player are so one-dimensional in the first place.

Pass.

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Two other players with some NHL pedigree were also placed on waivers this morning, as San Jose Sharks waived gigantic left winger Frazer McLaren. Listed at 6’5, 250, McLaren appears to be a plus-sized version of Janssen, having scored 1 goal and taken 85 PiM in 40 NHL games, averaging 5 minutes a night. This from a guy who had 120+ PiM in four WHL seasons but 20+ goals in none of them. During the lockout, McLaren played 26 games in Worcester, scoring 0-1-1 with a -5 rating and 87 PiM. Hmmm, I wonder what kind of player he is? Pass.

Of much more interest is Zach Boychuk , waived this morning by Carolina. Boychuk is a smaller, skilled player, with plenty of 20-goal pedigree at both WHL and AHL levels. He was averaging nearly a point per game with Charlotte Checkers earlier this season, and was a regular threat in games I watched between the Checkers and OKC Barons. Boychuk can play the game, there is no doubt; whether at 5’10 180 he has enough game to make it as a full-time NHLer. Not at all impossible that in the next 24 hours some NHL team will take a stab at him to provide a “second opinion”, to borrow one of Craig MacTavish’s expressions. Given the small size of their top six, I highly doubt that team would be the Oilers. Pass.

Finally, speaking of the Barons, with the 10 a.m. MST deadline comes confirmation that Yann Danis has cleared waivers and will return to OKC. here has been mild concern from an Oilers’ perspective that the veteran third-stringer might fill a need on some other NHL team, but apparently not. Tough news for him, but a relief from an organizational perspective. Danis is an excellent option to have in reserve.