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Waiver news: Canadiens claim Blair Betts from Philly, Sean Avery goes unclaimed

Buffalo Sabres v Philadelphia Flyers - Game Seven

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 26: Blair Betts #11 of the Philadelphia Flyers controls the puck against the Buffalo Sabres in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Wells Fargo Center on April 26, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Waiver madness has struck and we see two moves you could call “expected” go through.

Montreal claimed Blair Betts from the Philadelphia Flyers. For Montreal it was a no-brainer move as they were in need of a fourth line center to win face-offs and play strong defensive hockey. They’ll get that with Betts as he won just over 50% of his draws last season. Betts also gives Montreal a little bit of size at forward being 6'3". In case you hadn’t heard, the Habs have a few small-sized forwards.

Philadelphia losing Betts makes for an interesting turn of events there as it likely means that Maxime Talbot will now slot in as the fourth line center. Given that Talbot is making $1.75 million against the cap for the next five years, they’d better hope he becomes a superstar shutdown guy up the middle. It also means that Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn (once he’s recalled from the AHL) will do battle on the third line for bragging rights there. Expect Schenn to win that battle.

Avery_Sean

The least surprising non-move of the day concerns Sean Avery. Avery cleared waivers and the Rangers are now free to send him to the AHL if need be. It’s also possible that Avery could be brought through on re-entry waivers to see if a team will take him at a discounted price.

With Avery being paid by both the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers, if he were to be claimed on re-entry waivers that team would be getting him at a double discount only having to pay 25% of his contract. The Stars still pay half of what Avery is owed while the Rangers would pay half of what he was owed. Having to pay Avery only 25% of what he’s worth might make him attractive to another team.

Then again, after what Rangers coach John Tortorella had to say about Avery yesterday, you wonder if anyone will want him even at that big of a discount. At the very least, the Dallas Stars might like to see another team pick him up just to save themselves some trouble in dealing with the salary cap. With the buzz going on around the league, the chances we’ll see Avery play again in the NHL this season are slim.