Five players placed on NHL waiver wire: Chris Drury and the New York Rangers to make a move?

Sunday felt like the league exhaled after the roster freeze, and the waiver wire immediately got noisy. Friedman reported Noah Philp, Danton Heinen, Juuso Valimaki, Marshall Rifai, and Ethan Bear hitting waivers.

For the Rangers, this is less about bargain hunting and more about stopping the bleeding. ESPN has them at 2.55 goals for per game with an 18.4 percent power play, numbers that scream «one more finisher, please.»

If Drury is looking for a plug-and-play forward, Philp and Heinen are the cleanest fits by position. Both were reported on waivers Sunday, and either would come cheap in terms of acquisition cost.

On the back end, Bear and Rifai are the names that jump out for teams wanting depth that can survive real minutes. Bear was reported on waivers Sunday, and Rifai landed there too as Toronto juggles bodies.

The catch, as always, is that waivers are not shopping, they are commitment. Claim a guy, keep him on the NHL roster, make the cap math work, and accept that the standings order can decide for you.

Rangers fans are tired of watching good shifts end with nothing in the slot, so any «free» add feels like hope.

The best fits are guys who win pucks back on the forecheck and can finish a second chance, not passengers waiting for Artemi Panarin to solve everything. New York needs cleaner entries, quicker middle touches, and one more shooter who actually pulls the trigger.

My guess is Drury only bites if the claim clearly upgrades a real roster spot, because paper depth does not fix a 60-minute scoring drought. Still, waivers are one of the few levers you can pull without paying a pick.

If a claim happens, Monday in Carolina becomes the first test, and it will be obvious fast whether it helped.