Lighting the Lamp: Schneider on waivers

Brian Burke has once again screwed up my column.

Here is what I was going to write about Mathieu Schneider in my defenseman rankings, now postponed until Schneider has a home:

Schneider is an incredibly talented offensive defenseman... unfortunately he's the third best
offensive defenseman on this team. With rumors swirling that Schneider will be traded its entirely possible that he could move up this list but until he is, his ice time and lack
of quality powerplay time doesn't justify a higher ranking.

Well. Here we are. Mathieu Schneider has been placed on waivers so that the Ducks can trim salary. This move will put the Ducks approximately 2.5 million under the cap. Given recent movement this would SEEM to indicate that Teemu will be coming back, though one would think it would take more then 2.5 to appease the Finnish Flash.

Schneider's prospects are looking dim unfortunately. The way waivers work in the NHL is that the last place team from last season has highest priority through November 1st. Right now that means the Top 5 teams in waiver priority are: Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, Atlanta, St. Louis, and the Islanders.

Tampa can't afford his 5.75 million salary so cross them off the list (though they've done crazier things this offseason).

LA is actually below the cap minimum right now so I would count them as a very high possibility at this stage of the game. They also are desperate for a veteran two way defenseman to tutor Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. Schneider would seem to be a natural fit.

Assuming LA passes, I don't see Atlanta or St. Louis putting in a bid either. Atlanta has already made their big salary commitment this offseason to Ron Hainsey. Also, Atlanta is very aware that they need to keep whatever money around that they can to try to woo Kovalchuk to stay at the end of the season.

St Louis is committed to rebuilding from within and Schneider would be step back for them and against everything the organization has been attempting to do these last few seasons.

The Islanders would seem to be another natural fit, though God they need forwards for him to play with first.

I'll keep you updated as this develops, and will likely post the top ten defensemen later in the day as Schneider can't really effect that.