Penguins' Division Rivals Make Waiver Surprises Ahead of Season

Seven NHL clubs put 12 players on waivers on Friday, PuckPedia reported. Two of those, however, were divisional opponents of the Pittsburgh Penguins: the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes.

Three skaters, however, were picked up around the league out of the players who were placed yesterday; luckily, the Penguins did not lose any of theirs.

The Colorado Avalanche took defenseman Ilya Solovyov from Calgary, the Florida Panthers claimed forward Cole Schwindt from Vegas, and the Minnesota Wild reclaimed blueliner Daemon Hunt from Columbus.

Hunt, who was drafted by Minnesota, returns to the team where he has played all 13 of his NHL contests. The 22-year-old left-handed blueliner has an assist and 11:14 of average ice time in his limited minutes over the last two seasons.

Schwindt also makes his way back to the team that originally drafted him as Florida adds much-needed depth on offense while remaining without Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Tomas Nosek, who are all injured.

The 23-year-old Schwindt has accumulated eight points in 49 career NHL games.

Meanwhile, Solovyov travels to Colorado following three solid seasons with the AHL's Calgary Wranglers. The 25-year-old contributed 28 points in 59 AHL games and had four assists in 15 NHL games.

For the Penguins, the trend throughout the league is also a reminder of just how razor-thin the margin is in the Metropolitan Division.

With Washington and Carolina forced to navigate with their depth, any trade has the potential to help or hurt the playoff push.

The management of Pittsburgh and its fans will be observing with the understanding that the distance between getting into the playoffs versus missing can be who can get roster maneuvers like these accomplished.

Waiver season isn't glamorous, but to a Penguins team fighting to remain in the hunt, it's worth taking a look at who is available.