Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen placed on waivers

Bobby Bevilacqua

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

UPDATE: John Gilmour, Ryan Graves, Robin Kovacs, Malte Stromwall and Mackenzie Skapski were sent to the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL).

With Alain Vigneault continuing to trim the roster down as the regular season draws closer, the team made two more cuts prior to the preseason closer against the Flyers tomorrow. Forwards Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen were the casualties today and were placed on waivers.

Hrivik had no points in four games, while Jensen had a goal and an assist in four appearances. His goal came in last night’s game against the Islanders and sent it to overtime.

The Jensen cut made sense, as his performance was relatively underwhelming and players like Brandon Pirri had been outperforming him. Hrivik was a little surprising because he has shown the ability to handle a fourth line role and deserved a longer look than he got.

Hopefully they both clear waivers because Jensen and Hrivik are useful players.

The roster is slowly but surely becoming closer to what we’ll see in the regular season, and the fourth line is beginning to take shape. Nathan Gerbe, Josh Jooris and Michael Grabner are still on the roster and competing for that spot on the fourth line. Brandon Pirri is also still around as his fantastic preseason has opened the eyes of the coaching staff.

Amazingly, Tanner Glass is still on the roster. There’s absolutely no way that he should make the roster because Gerbe, Grabner, Fast, Pirri, and even recently ousted Hrivik and Jensen are all more useful than he is. But he’s still here and it wouldn’t amaze me if he makes the roster because AV. But it shouldn’t happen.

Tomorrow’s game against the Flyers will really help determine who will make the opening night roster.

In other news, Mat Bodie, Chris Summers, Tommy Hughes and Chris Brown all cleared waivers.