Downey Waived

Dave over at Gorilla Crouch makes mention of a HockeyFights.com thread about the Red Wings waiving Aaron Downey. I feel dumber just for having read that thread, so thankfully the Detroit News confirms.

The Wings put forward Aaron Downey on waivers Friday, but general manager Ken Holland said the Wings will keep Downey on the roster if he isn’t claimed by another team by Saturday afternoon. He’ll likely be sent to Grand Rapids later in the month when forward Igor Grigorenko is brought up.

Seems like odd timing, no need to do it now but also no reason not to. Maybe the thinking is to try to have him clear waivers now when fewer teams have injuries. If a team was short a man three weeks from now they’d be more likely to claim him but right now just about everyone is healthy. That’s just my guess.