It’s a fate that every professional hockey player dreads — getting claimed off waivers by the Arizona Coyotes. That’s the circumstance befalling Juuso Valimaki after the former Calgary Flames defenseman was placed on waivers ahead of the start of the regular season.
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The Finnish defenseman played in just nine games for the Flames last year, recording two assists and ten penalty minutes.
Valimaki was the odd man out of a training camp battle for a spot on the Flames’ blueline. Calgary elected to go with Noah Hanifin, Mackenzie Weegar, Nikita Zadorov, Christopher Tanev, Rasmus Andersson, and Oliver Kylington, making Valimaki expendable.
With three years of service and 82 games played, Valimaki is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning all 32 clubs had a chance to claim the former first-round pick.
Valimaki joins a Coyotes squad that will be one of the worst in the league. FanDuel Sportsbook has the Desert Dogs lined as +30000 longshots in Stanley Cup futures betting, the longest odds on the board.
