Two NHL forwards hit waivers as roster decisions come down to the wire

Roster cutdown season always produces a few names nobody planned on talking about, and two more just landed on the list.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jansen Harkins and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Mikael Pyyhtia have both been placed on waivers, per Elliotte Friedman.

Neither move is a huge surprise on its face.

Both players sit near the bottom of their team's forward pecking order, and both are waiver eligible, which means the clubs have to expose them before they can send them to the minors.

Harkins is 29 and signed with Tampa Bay on July 3 on a one-year, two-way deal that pays $850,000 at the NHL level.

A deal like that points to a team hoping to slide him through and use him in Syracuse, or keep him around as a spare part.

He has been through this before, though.

Pittsburgh claimed him in 2023, and he spent time with the Penguins during the 2023-24 season, so a club grabbing him again would not be unprecedented.

Pyyhtia is 24 and was a fourth round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2020 out of Turku, Finland.

He had 10 points in 66 career NHL games as of January, and most of his pro time has come with the Cleveland Monsters.

He has been bounced between levels for a few seasons now, and that pattern continues here.

The next step is simple. If either player clears, he can be assigned to the AHL, with Harkins heading to Syracuse and Pyyhtia to Cleveland.

If someone claims them, the Lightning or Blue Jackets lose a piece of depth for nothing.

Expect an answer very soon.

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