It was a busy day on the waiver wire yesterday.
In a day where 25 players were placed on waivers, the Pittsburgh Penguins made sweeping cuts to their preseason roster, waiving 6 players in the hopes of assigning them to their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
That list coming out of Pittsburgh was headlined by former first rounder Sam Poulin, but was largely comprised of players that were slated to be in the AHL this year anyways.
All but one of these players on the list as a whole cleared. The one who was claimed was defenseman John Ludvig, who was picked up today by the Colorado Avalanche.
Ludvig, a 24-year old left-shot defender, was a waiver claim by the Penguins themselves last season, when they snagged him from the Florida Panthers just before Opening Night.
He made his NHL debut on October 24th, and wanted to make his style of game known immediately when he went for a huge hit on Dallas’ Radek Faksa. Unfortunately for Ludvig, he ended up getting the worst of that collision and had to be helped off the ice.
That early injury did not deter him however from his wrecking ball style of play. He got into the lineup 33 times for the Penguins in his first year in the show.
A depth defenseman for Pittsburgh, Ludvig brought a type of physicality that not a lot of Penguins players had. He threw 72 hits during the season; on an 82-game pace he would have far and away led the team in that department. He also wasn’t afraid to fight, dropping the gloves several times as he looked for ways to establish himself.
His grit and style was enjoyed by many Penguins fans, but his game also had some serious lapses on defense. His play on the blue line was never better than a bottom pairing role, and a lot of his advanced and underlying numbers were not pretty.
Luvdig was a -12 last year, the worst +/- mark on the Penguins. For reference, the second worst figures were Jeff Carter and Noel Acciari, who were -7.
To have that bad of a number in less than half a season’s worth of games is, uh, well not great.
His first goal in the NHL came on February 14th, against the organization that let him go in Florida.
But he did not provide a ton of offense from the backend, tallying 3 goals and 2 assists on the year. It certainly wasn’t enough to overcome the defensive warts in his game.
With the Avalanche claiming him, Ludvig is now guaranteed to be on the NHL roster when their season kicks off. Colorado already had a plethora of depth defenseman in their system, which makes them claiming yet another in Ludvig rather interesting.
His performance as a Penguin was at times overhyped, but for a team that has not favored physical guys like Ludvig under head coach Mike Sullivan, seeing a player like that on the ice is sure to send a spark to the fan base.
Best of luck to John in Colorado.
(Featured photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
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