Utah Hockey Club Claim Defenseman From the New Jersey Devils on Waivers
The Utah Hockey Club just lost a veteran blue liner on waivers, and now they've claimed another from the New Jersey Devils.
On Saturday, the New Jersey Devils parted ways with veteran blue liner Nick Desimone, but given his experience and his cheap contract, there was expected to be plenty of interest in him on waivers.
Now, that has been confirmed by top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, who has revealed that the https://www.nhl.com/utah/ have claimed DeSimone, who will likely play the 7D role if he remains with the NHL club in Salt Lake City.
Since making his NHL debut in 2022, DeSimone has played in 38 games, tallying 2 goals and 7 points over that time alongside a solid -1 differential, with the New York native playing a solid depth role.
However, the 30-year old is yet to play a game in the NHL this season, so now we will wait and see what role the Utah Hockey Club have in store for him, as he has shown the potential to be a full-time third pairing defenseman.
On top of this, Friedman also revealed that the Los Angeles Kings have placed Arthur Kaliyev on waivers after the 23-year old had three solid seasons to begin his NHL career.
A former second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Kaliyev was a star in the NHL, but he's dealt with plenty of injuries throughout his career, limiting him to no games in the league this season and just five in the AHL with the Ontario Reign.
There will no doubt be plenty of interest in Kaliyev as well, as the winger has shown the potential to score big, with 28 points in just 56 games back in 2022/23 suggesting that he could potentially be a 40-50 point scorer at the NHL level.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| J.T. Miller | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Devon Toews | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Lane Hutson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Tom Wilson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jonathan Lekkerimaki | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dawson Mercer | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| John-Jason Peterka | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Aliaksei Protas | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| John Carlson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Quinn Hughes | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Paul Cotter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Adam Larsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ondrej Palat | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Golden Knights | 39 | 27 | 9 | 3 | 57 | |
Capitals | 40 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 56 | |
Jets | 41 | 27 | 12 | 2 | 56 | |
Wild | 40 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 54 | |
Maple Leafs | 41 | 26 | 13 | 2 | 54 | |
Devils | 43 | 25 | 15 | 3 | 53 | |
Kings | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 51 | |
Oilers | 39 | 24 | 12 | 3 | 51 | |
Avalanche | 41 | 25 | 15 | 1 | 51 | |
Hurricanes | 40 | 24 | 14 | 2 | 50 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||