Yesterday, Christian Ehrhoff was placed on waivers by the Los Angeles Kings. As we covered yesterday, he wasn’t having a terrible season, but the Kings weren’t particularly satisfied with his play. However, he can certainly still help an NHL team.
On Wednesday, a number of our fellow SB Nation blogs made their cases as to why picking up Christian Ehrhoff off waivers. was not only an interesting possibility, but a good idea.
Should the #RedWings claim Christian Ehrhoff? If he’s available, it’s a no-brainer https://t.co/D6c0fJgRjd pic.twitter.com/GEnLnpltfP
— Winging It In Motown (@wingingitmotown) February 10, 2016
Can we PLEASE get Christian Ehrhoff now? We’ll take good care of him. https://t.co/OepS6Vswl5 pic.twitter.com/qgoGY6c0n5
— StanleyCup ofChowder (@cupofchowdah) February 10, 2016
The Minnesota Wild should claim Christian Ehrhoff off waivers #mnwild https://t.co/nwUGdMMkYw pic.twitter.com/moX5WLyub1
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) February 10, 2016
Christian Ehrhoff is on waivers. Should the #Oilers claim him? Sure, why not. https://t.co/8Pfpfm3p4a pic.twitter.com/KBW7uxvXwN
— Copper & Blue (@CopperandBlue) February 10, 2016
Our deepest to apologies to all those blogs, as Ehrhoff and his $1.5 million contract cleared waivers this morning.
Ehrhoff (LAK) clears waivers.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 11, 2016
BUT WHY? I’m happy about it — an injury to an existing defenseman means we have a ready-made replacement — but why? Teams want more.
My guess is some teams will investigate trading for Ehrhoff now and sending a contract back LA’s way.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 11, 2016
Hmmm. It’s plausible, but LA’s not going to agree to use their remaining cap room unless it’s a definitive defensive upgrade. (The first reply to Bob’s tweet suggests that the Kings trade Ehrhoff AND Pearson for Roman Polak, which probably didn’t even deserve to get mentioned in this article.)
But it points to the recent trend with waived players; unless they’re a round peg in a round hole, the teams are much less willing to take a chance on a veteran player in decline than the Internet is. It’s easy to forget Ehrhoff went unsigned for nearly two months this offseason. If teams didn’t want him at $1.5 million then, they’re still unlikely to want him for $500K over a third of the season.
Ehrhoff will remain with the Ontario Reign until further notice. At least they got a lot better.