Today it was announced that Jarret Stoll was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Wild. The New York Rangers placed him on waivers so they could call up defensemen Brady Skjei, a young promising defenseman. The claim is interesting because apparently a couple of teams put in claims for the veteran center.
May not learn the identity of those unsuccessful, but sounds like there was more than 1 claim for Stoll. https://t.co/URdqA6qh2M
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 15, 2015
https://twitter.com/generalfanager/status/676815015253553152
This begs the question, why wouldn’t the Rangers trade the center if there was enough interest for him? He is a player who can play all over the lineup and is seen as valuable to many clubs. He may be overrated as a player though which makes the claim all the more puzzling.
As you can see from the HERO chart above, he is mostly a replacement level player at this point in his career. At $800,000 though the investment and risk is basically nothing. If they can get anything out of him, it will be an added bonus. Stoll, a former Stanley Cup champion, is a player that many GMs salivate over purely for his intangibles and what he can bring to a roster. There has been a debate as of late whether or not whether those hold any value in the league anymore and it remains to be seen.
Stoll, of course made headlines this past summer for his arrest in Las Vegas when he got his felony cocaine charge reduced to a misdemeanor. Cue the snow headlines.
