Devils’ Scott Harrington, Sabres’ Michael Houser placed on waivers

New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Harrington and Buffalo Sabres goaltender Michael Houser have been placed on Monday afternoon’s waiver wire.

Harrington is being waived after the Devils acquired him yesterday as part of the deal that also gave them winger Timo Meier. The San Jose Sharks were close to the standard player contract limit, which meant that in order to bring in the four players and prospects in return for Meier, the Sharks needed to move out a few themselves, which is why Harrington was involved.

Harrington has played 28 games in the NHL this season, with a goal, six assists, and seven points on the year. He’s also played five games in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda, with just an assist in those games.

A former second round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Harrington has played a majority of his career with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He then went to unrestricted free agency in 2022, where he signed a one-year deal for the league minimum of $750,000 with the Sharks.

Houser is on waivers as he was signed to a midseason NHL deal with the Sabres, the third straight year he’s done that with the team. He was with the Rochester Americans on an AHL deal, and now that he’s been signed to an NHL contract, he has to be placed on waivers to be re-assigned to the AHL.

Houser has played 14 games in the AHL this season, with 6-5-1 record and a .903 save percentage on the year. He’s played just six career games at the NHL level, all with the Sabres, with a 4-2-0 record and a .917 save percentage.

After three seasons with the London Knights in the OHL, Houser went undrafted and was an AHL and ECHL journeyman for a majority of his career. In his ninth professional season, he joined the Sabres organization in the 2020-21 season and finally got an NHL start that year.