Sunday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Ahcan has cleared waivers. Per a team announcement, he was subsequently assigned to AHL Milwaukee.
Saturday: The defensive shakeup in Nashville continues. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the Predators have claimed blueliner Daemon Hunt off waivers from the Wild.
In a corresponding move, Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Pucks relays (Twitter link) that blueliner Jack Ahcan has been placed on waivers. He’ll receive non-roster status for the time being.
It’s the second time in a little over a year that Hunt is on the move via the waiver wire. Last season, he didn’t make the roster in Columbus out of training camp, leading to the Wild placing a claim to bring him back to the organization, having been part of the package sent to the Blue Jackets to acquire David Jiricek back in November 2024.
Unfortunately for Hunt, a full-time roster spot last season didn’t yield a full-time spot in the lineup. He missed 10 games due to an undisclosed injury and then was only in a little under half the time when he was healthy.
Still, the 24-year-old played in a career-high 32 games in 2025-26, picking up six assists and 43 blocked shots in 12:26 per game of ice time. For his career, Hunt has seven assists in 56 NHL contests and is playing on a one-year, $900K contract.
He needs to get into 24 more NHL games this season to retain RFA status. Otherwise, he’ll be a Group Six unrestricted free agent in July.
This season, Hunt had been a regular in the early going, suiting up in 11 straight games to start the season. He has been held off the scoresheet thus far while recording 11 blocks in 14:08 per night of playing time.
On the surface, this appears to be good news for Matt Kiersted and first-time waiver-eligible David Spacek, who now have a bit more of a pathway to playing time and a better shot at staying on Minnesota’s roster.
New Nashville GM Chris MacFarland has slowly been changing up the back end of his team. William Trudeau was added via waivers at the start of the season and then when he landed on IR, he acquired Jayden Struble from Montreal.
Hunt is now the third newcomer in less than a month to the group.
It’s likely that MacFarland views Hunt as a marginal upgrade on Ahcan, himself a newcomer as well via free agency this summer on a two-year, two-way deal that carries an $875K AAV. Both are undersized defenders but Hunt has had a bit more success in limited NHL action thus far.
Ahcan made Nashville’s roster out of training camp but played sparingly in the early going, playing in just three games, notching one assist in only 7:36 per night of playing time. He has a goal and three assists in 25 career NHL appearances across five seasons.
Teams will have until 1 PM CT on Sunday to place a claim on Ahcan.