A handful of NHL veterans found themselves on the other side of the waiver wire in the past week. As NHL teams trimmed their rosters ahead of opening night on Tuesday, players who haven’t appeared in the AHL [https://thehockeynews.com/ahl] in more than five years could end up back there for games. Here are five of those veterans who cleared NHL waivers during the pre-season. RYAN GRAVES, D, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NHL career stats: 433 GP, 32 G, 86 A, 118 PTS 2025-26 pre-season stats: 4 GP, 0 PTS, 8 PIM, 9 S In 2022-23, Graves recorded more than 25 points for the third time in four seasons and at least 150 blocked shots for the second time. At his best, Graves plays an effective defensively focused game at even strength against top competition and on the penalty kill. On July 1, 2023, in one of his first moves as the Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins]’ president of hockey operations, Kyle Dubas signed Graves to a six-year contract worth $4.5 million per season. In the third year of that contract, with a 12-team no-trade list [https://puckpedia.com/player/ryan-graves], the 30-year-old Graves cleared waivers. Last season, he had four points in 61 games, with 73 blocked shots and an average ice time of 14:48. He did have a 50.77 expected goals percentage at 5-on-5 [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=oi&rate=y&team=PIT&pos=D&loc=B&toi=0&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL] while starting just 36.14 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, according to naturalstattrick.com. That suggests he still has value on defense, but Pittsburgh seems set to start the season with Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea and Caleb Jones on the left side. Graves last played in the AHL in 2018-19. ERIK GUSTAFSSON, D, DETROIT RED WINGS NHL career stats: 515 GP, 47 G, 193 A, 240 PTS 2025-26 pre-season stats: 3 GP, 0 PTS, 5 S Gustafsson is an offensive-minded defenseman who drew attention in 2018-19 when he posted a whopping 60 points in 79 games with the Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks]. The 33-year-old has featured on the power play in each of his nine NHL seasons, recording 73 points on the man advantage. Last season, Gustafsson recorded nine power-play points in 60 games. His 18 points overall were a 13-point drop from his 31 with the New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers] in 2023-24 and a 24-point decrease from his 42 in 2022-23 between the Washington Capitals [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals] and Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs]. In the second season of a two-year contract worth $2 million annually, Gustafsson could end up playing AHL games for the first time since 2017-18. But he did make the Detroit Red Wings’ opening-night roster on Monday. Wherever Gustafsson ends up, he will look to prove he can still be an effective depth producer on defense in the NHL. Justin Holl (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/f786e09a-cff7-4eb1-8e29-6cc93b5b85d1.jpeg] Justin Holl (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images) JUSTIN HOLL, D, DETROIT RED WINGS NHL career stats: 396 GP, 13 G, 82 A, 95 PTS 2025-26 pre-season stats: 3 GP, 0 PTS, plus-1, 2 S On July 1, 2023, Holl signed a three-year contract with the Red Wings that carries a $3.4-million cap hit and a 10-team no-trade list. Before that time, Holl once averaged at least 20 minutes of ice time with the Maple Leafs while getting around 20 points and handling difficult assignments. In the last two seasons, Holl’s had 13 points in 111 games, including eight points in 73 outings last year. He averaged 14:48 of ice time and blocked 78 shots. Holl actually led Detroit’s defensemen in expected goals percentage at 5-on-5 last season at 51.65 percent, meaning the Wings produced higher-quality chances than their opponents when he was on the ice, according to naturalstattrick.com [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=oi&rate=y&team=DET&pos=D&loc=B&toi=0&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL]. That said, he started nearly 59 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, compared to 36.88 percent with Toronto in 2022-23 [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20222023&thruseason=20222023&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=oi&rate=y&team=TOR&pos=D&loc=B&toi=0&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL]. With Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman adding Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker in free agency, the team assigned the 33-year-old Holl to AHL Grand Rapids on Monday. The last time he played AHL games was in 2017-18. NHL Waivers: Leafs Claim Former Habs As Sabres And Lightning Add Players [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/89b764e6-9a9a-4874-b9ab-ee9fa4a3be08.jpeg] NHL Waivers: Leafs Claim Former Habs As Sabres And Lightning Add Players Three teams claimed players off NHL waivers on roster cutdown day. [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-waivers-leafs-claim-former-habs-as-sabres-and-lightning-add-players] DAVID KAMPF, C, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS Career stats: 536 GP, 48 G, 95 A, 143 PTS 2025-26 pre-season stats: 2 GP, 1 A, plus-2, 2 S Kampf, 30, is a penalty-kill specialist, logging at least two minutes of PK time per game in six of his eight career seasons. In his first two seasons with Toronto, Kampf put up a then-career-high 26 points in 2021-22 and then got 27 points in 2022-23. Last year, Kampf had 13 points while averaging a career-low 12:24 of ice time, and he only played in one playoff game. Toronto has other options for their fourth line and penalty kill, even with Scott Laughton injured, including Calle Jarnkrok and Steven Lorentz. If they want someone to produce offense in a depth role, Nick Robertson averaged more points per game than Kampf last season at 0.32 to 0.22. The Leafs even claimed winger Sammy Blais off waivers [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-waivers-leafs-claim-former-habs-as-sabres-and-lightning-add-players] on Monday. Kampf is in the third season of a four-year contract with a $2.4-million cap hit and a 10-team no-trade clause. [https://puckpedia.com/player/david-kampf] He last played in the AHL in 2017-18. DANTON HEINEN, LW, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS Career stats: 566 GP, 96 G, 145 A, 241 PTS 2025-26 pre-season stats: 4 GP, 0 PTS, minus-2, 3 S Heinen, has been on three NHL teams in the last two seasons: the Boston Bruins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/boston-bruins], Vancouver Canucks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks] and Penguins. The 30-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Canucks on July 1, 2024, with a $2.25-million cap hit and 12-team no-trade clause [https://puckpedia.com/player/danton-heinen]. He was coming off a 36-point season in his second stint with the Bruins. During his first stint with Boston, which drafted him 116th overall in 2014, he put up a career-high 47 points in his rookie campaign in 2017-18. In 51 games with Vancouver, the British Columbian put up six goals and 18 points. Vancouver included him in a trade package to the Penguins in exchange for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor on Feb. 1. He finished the season with 11 points in 28 games for Pittsburgh. With 29 points in 79 games last season, Heinen can still be a depth scorer if any team wants to absorb that cap hit this season. But the Penguins are focused on shifting toward a youth movement, which didn’t leave room for Heinen. That means he could play an AHL game for the first time since 2017-18. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
