Yesterday, the Capitals placed Nathan Walker on waivers. Teams had 24 hours to claim him and that 24-hour period expired today at noon. The Edmonton Oilers picked Walker up. This is the second time this week a Capitals player has been placed on waivers. Aaron Ness cleared waivers on Wednesday and was sent down to Hershey. 

After yesterday’s morning skate, Barry Trotz explained his reasoning behind why Walker was placed on waivers.

“With people getting healthy, Nathan wasn’t getting in the lineup… You can only build your game on the ice,” Trotz said. “He’s gotta play. He’s a good young man but he’s still gotta build his game.”

The initial plan was for the Capitals to send Walker down to Hershey to work on his game once he cleared waivers but with Edmonton picking him up during the 24-hour waiver period, that plan has backfired. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to report this and according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post, Edmonton wasn’t the only team interested in pursuing Walker.

EDM claims Nathan Walker

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 1, 2017

Nathan Walker has not cleared waivers. Picked up by the Edmonton Oilers. They weren’t the only ones to put a claim in either.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) December 1, 2017

Walker only appeared in seven games with the Capitals this season, serving most of his time with the big club as a healthy scratch. He scored one goal which came in his NHL debut as he made history as the first Australian-born athlete to play in the NHL.

By Michael Marzzacco
Follow @marswaggo

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