Sharks Claim Dzingel Off Waivers from Maple Leafs

If the Toronto Maple Leafs place you on waivers, you should probably start packing your bags immediately. 

The Maple Leafs were unable to sneak another forward through waivers yet again on Monday afternoon, with the San Jose Sharks claiming Ryan Dzingel from them two days after Toronto acquired the forward from the Arizona Coyotes in the Nick Ritchie trade. 

Dzingel will now head to a team that, for the time being, has the room to keep him on their NHL roster -- which, to be fair, is more than he would have gotten in Toronto. 

After being acquired by the Maple Leafs on Saturday night, Dzingel was promptly placed on waivers under the guise of sending him to the AHL's Toronto Marlies to bide his time as a depth call-up candidate. 

That plain is, obviously, no longer possible.

The Maple Leafs attempted to do pretty much the exact same thing with Adam Brooks just this past week to identical results. Toronto claimed Brooks off of waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, waived him to send him down on Thursday, and watched the Winnipeg Jets claim him for themselves on Friday. 

Now, the team has lost two players with nothing but valuable cap space to show for it. So, things could be worse. 

In Dzingel, the Sharks are getting a 29-year-old on an expiring contract who has struggled mightily over the past few years but did score at a 20-to-25-goal clip for a stretch once upon a time. He's nothing but some offensive depth for a team that could use it. And at a cost of only his minimal cap hit, the Sharks likely weren't the only team to put in a claim. 

Maybe the Leafs will get lucky next time.