Bobby Bevilacqua

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

After placing Jarret Stoll on waivers yesterday afternoon, Bob McKenzie reported that the Minnesota Wild claimed the veteran center off of waivers. The Wild will take all of Stoll’s $800k cap hit.

Stoll to MIN on waivers. Khudobin clears. MTL puts Kassian on waivers.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 15, 2015

Stoll was placed on waivers due to Dan Girardi’s knee injury, which is supposedly from blocking a shot against the Vancouver Canucks. There wasn’t enough room under the salary cap to fit him and rookie Brady Skjei, who will make his NHL debut tonight.

The team believed that Moore was a better option at center and the move to the wing proved tough for Jarret Stoll.

The Minnesota Wild weren’t the only team to place a claim for Stoll, but they were first in the waiver order. According to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, the Wild took him for his veteran experience and his Stanley Cup experience. He’s a right handed shot from the center position and will help on penalty kills and faceoffs.

I’ve seen that some people were upset about losing Stoll, but it really isn’t a big loss for the Rangers. In fact, this will actually help them.

The only thing positive about his game was his ability on faceoffs. He did have the highest win percentage out of all centers (57.9%), but the Rangers have three other centers who are winning more than 50% of their draws (Moore – 56.4, Brassard – 53.1, Lindberg – 50.6). Stoll’s expertise wasn’t a necessity, especially with him playing on the wing.

Also, Stoll hadn’t contributed to the offense at all. He was held without a point for 18 games dating back to November 6^th, and had the worst corsi for percentage on the entire team (38.6%), and tallied just one goal and two assists this season. He wasn’t strong on the forecheck, and struggled in Vigneault’s up-tempo system. Simply put, it wasn’t a great fit.

This also has implications on the lineup. It looks like Tanner Glass is here to stay, and honestly, that’s fine. He leads all Rangers forwards in corsi (49.66%), and has been very effective since he was recalled, scoring in the loss against Calgary.

Emerson Etem will also be an everyday player, at least until Derek Stepan comes back. Etem has added some offense and physicality to the fourth line, and will get a chance to solidify his role with the team.

Dominic Moore, Tanner Glass and Emerson Etem is a much better fourth line than one with Jarret Stoll on it. We’ll see that unit again tonight against Edmonton.