WA-UTA-VejmelkaTradeOrExtend In a move to add some depth to its defense, the Utah Hockey Club claimed former New Jersey Devils' Nick DeSimone. With Utah currently having four defenseman injured, it made sense that it would look to add a defenseman off waivers. DeSimone comes in without having played a game for the Devils this season. The last game he played in was April 7. More recently, DeSimone has played games for the Devils affiliate team the Utica Comet where he played 12 games before he got recalled by the Devils Dec. 27. Along with adding Desimone, Utah is expecting some more defenseman to become available this month. Utah's Robert Bortuzzo and Maveric Lamoureux are expected to return this month with Lamoureux potentially being available for Utah's game against the Panthers. While Bortuzzo is considered week-to-week, he temporarily came back and played in Utah's 5-3 win over Calgary. He registered 8:25 minutes of ice time, but with a recent history of injuries keeping him out, it is hard to predict when he will be truly healthy and ready to play. In the meantime, just having Desimone available helps Utah if it needs to call upon him in case of any injuries.
