As noon passed today, fans of Kyle Wilson had to breathe a sigh of relief when word came that the journeyman center had cleared waivers. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets continue to drive speculation by assigning Mike Commodore to waivers this afternoon.
Though it’s doubtful that Commodore will be picked up by another team on the waiver wire, that means that the team now has two “vacant” roster spots (three, if one counts the fact that Ethan Moreau is likely to be placed on injured reserve), but as of yet has made no move to fill them with a callup from Springfield.
Yesterday, the Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline reported that Wilson’s waiver was to clear a roster spot for a large trade that could go down “soon.” If that is the case, the movement of Commodore seems to indicate that it could be imminent, particularly since Scott Arniel stated that the Commodore situation would be resolved “Sooner rather than later” on the Coaches’ show on 97.1 The Fan yesterday.
If part of Commodore’s rift with the coaching staff is his attitude, I really doubt they’ll want him sitting in Springfield where he can influence players like John Moore and David Savard – particularly with Jackets just making a trade to balance out Springfield’s roster to relieve the glut of d-men.
If Commodore is not plucked off the waiver wire and a trade does go through, it seems likely that the trade partner wants him to start in the AHL, and available for reassignment from there. I could even see a situation where, if the trade does not go through tomorrow, Commodore might be “loaned” to another AHL club just to get him away from the Columbus system.
It promises to be an interesting few days for the Blue Jackets, and we’ll try to keep you as up to date as possible here at The Cannon.