Blue Jackets waive Emil Andrae and Danton Heinen

The insiders had it within minutes of each other on Wednesday afternoon. A forward and a defenseman, both gone from the Columbus roster in one move.

Aaron Portzline

@Aportzline

#CBJ have placed F Danton Heinen and D Emil Andrae on waivers.

Andrae is the name people care about. He's been through 3 organizations in about 2 months. Philadelphia sent him to Toronto in the Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit trade, he played 2 preseason games for the Leafs, and then on September 28, the day before Toronto's opener, he went to Columbus with Matthew Knies and Steven Lorentz in the deal that brought Kirill Marchenko and Miles Wood to the Leafs. Five games and 2 assists later, averaging 10:33 a night, he's on the wire. He hasn't played since October 20, and that game came against Toronto, of all teams.

Heinen's case is simpler and bleaker. The 31-year-old is on a 1-year, $1 million deal and has 0 points through 10 games, and he got barely 5 minutes in his most recent one. He's a 622-game veteran with 253 career points, so somebody might take a flyer, but Columbus clearly needed the roster spots.

Naturally, Leafs fans asked right away whether Toronto could just claim Andrae back. The answer is no, at least not right now, and it all comes down to the 2027-28 cap.

PuckPedia

@PuckPedia

For those asking, the #Leafs cannot currently claim Andrae as they do not have enough tagging room to accommodate his 27-28 cap hit. In order to claim him, they would need to first remove a ~$900K 1-way cap hit in 27-28. t.co/gG2oRpjZ3A

PuckPedia

@PuckPedia

Waivers today: Emil Andrae #CBJ Danton Heinen #CBJ Lambert cleared from yesterday t.co/cEY9JVmlta

Andrae is in year 1 of a 2-year deal carrying a $1.55 million cap hit, which runs through 2027-28. Under the NHL's tagging rules a team needs room in future seasons for the contracts it takes on, and Toronto doesn't have enough to fit his 2027-28 number. It would first have to move about $900K of 1-way money off that year's books, and you don't do that in the 24 hours a waiver claim takes.

That's the punchline. The trade that sent Andrae out of Toronto is the reason Toronto can't bring him back. PuckPedia went through it on its show this week, explaining that the Marchenko trade turned tagging from a background rule into a real problem and left the Leafs as the one team in the league actually boxed in by it.

PuckPedia

@PuckPedia

“Maybe it was harmless, but then you make a trade for Marchenko and it’s not so harmless.” Hart breaks down Tagging, why it exists, and why Toronto is the only team in the NHL really boxed in by it Full Episode 🔗 ⬇️

So the next 24 hours decide where Andrae ends up. He's 24 and a left-shot defenseman on a cheap deal with RFA arbitration rights at the end of it, so a team with cap room could easily put in a claim. If nobody does, he and Heinen can be sent down. The Leafs, meanwhile, only get to watch, because the trade they made in September is now limiting what they can do in November.