Two NHL forwards are on waivers Tuesday, with Tampa Bay Lightning center Jansen Harkins and Columbus Blue Jackets winger Mikael Pyyhtia both available to the rest of the league.
If neither player is claimed by any of the NHL’s other 31 teams, each would be eligible to be assigned to the American Hockey League.
Harkins, 29, dressed for Tampa Bay’s season-opening 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers on October 1 and finished without a point in just under 11 minutes of ice time. He joined the Lightning on a one-year, two-way deal this offseason.
Last year, the Cleveland, Ohio native appeared in 44 games for the Anaheim Ducks and posted three goals and five assists for eight points.
A second-round pick by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Harkins has also spent time with the Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ducks, and Lightning. Across 306 career regular season NHL games, he has 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points. He is the son of former Calgary Flames and Hartford Whalers forward Todd Harkins.
Pyyhtia, 24, has not played in a game this season. In 2023-24, he recorded one goal and no assists in five NHL games for Columbus, while doing most of his work with the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate Cleveland Monsters. There, he put up 29 goals and 28 assists for 49 points in 59 games, then added three goals and two assists for five points in nine playoff games.
Columbus chose the Finnish national in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. In 71 NHL games, all with the Blue Jackets, he has five goals and six assists for 11 points.
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To make room, the Lightning had to make a difficult roster decision and exposed center Jansen Harkins on waivers for reassignment to Syracuse. Harkins dressed for the season opener before a lineup rotation pushed him into the press box, and if he clears he would head to the Crunch with a veteran role in the AHL awaiting him. [Read more 🡒]
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Conor Geekie has also given the Lightning a glimpse of what his next step might look like, blending physical play with a timely impact on the result, and Brayden Points return from injury has been just as important for what it says about his overall game. He has already chipped in offensively and, perhaps more importantly, has started to reclaim the defensive value that slipped away last season. For Tampa Bay, the encouraging part is not just who is producing, but how several core pieces are beginning to round into form at the same time. [Read more 🡒]