In a post earlier this month, I talked about Kyle Wellwood's prospects of playing in North America since he was released from his KHL team last month. Well, here's an update about Wellwood's status and that of Evgeni Nabokov. First, Wellwood has been claimed by the San Jose Sharks, who snuck in ahead of the St. Louis Blues to claim him. This begs two questions: why would any team want to claim Wellwood, given that he couldn't cut it as a third-line center for Vancouver and was cut after training camp earlier this season by Phoenix, and do the Sharks really need another forward? To answer both questions, the first question can be answered by saying that any team who needs warm bodies due to injuries, and St. Louis had a need because of injuries to the likes of Carlo Colaiacovo, David Perron, and Andy MacDonald (and that's not even mentioning T.J. Oshie, who just came back from injury), while San Jose was looking for anyone who can produce. Unfortunately, San Jose needed that help on the blue line, and I'm not sure how Wellwood is going to help there.
Second order of the day: Evgeni Nabokov has been signed by the Detroit Red Wings, pending a clearance of waivers. Here, you can see Detroit needing some healthy bodies in goal, since Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard are battling injuries. Seeing as Nabokov is going to be a likely backup once Howard returns to full strength, it will be interesting to see if Nabokov is willing to take a backup role in order to have what could very well be his best chance at winning a Stanley Cup. His reputation as a goalie that comes up small in the biggest games won't be a big worry if he does accept whatever role he is given once the goalie situation is more favorable for Detroit. In any event, he is a warm body who provides more veteran experience to a team that has a lot of it.
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