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No one wants Brad Lukowich?

When the pre-deadline waivers were announced on Tuesday, you had your expected waives that were made for pure salary-cap reasons. Usually teams can pick up decent, short-term help off the waiver wire and are only on the hook for the rest of the players salary, instead of giving up assets to acquire a player of nearly the same caliber.

Brad Lukowich was one of those on the waiver wire and once again, no one claimed the veteran defenseman.

Seeing as how a number of teams are in need of defensive help (Senators, Stars), it’s surprising he went untouched, and it’s not the first time either. Lukowich has passed through waivers multiple times this season from the AHL to the NHL and back, and each time he gets through I’m left wondering what exactly is it about him that has teams bypass him completely.

He’s not a flashy defenseman, he’s not ever a top four defenseman any longer and he never scored many goals or had many points. But he’s a veteran guy who has embraced being a mentor to young players, he’s won multiple Stanley Cups and more often than not he won’t make many mistakes.

With teams trading defensemen yesterday like candy, and high draft picks being tossed about like they were nothing, you’d have thought someone would see Lukowich as valuable. Perhaps I’m biased because this is a guy I have nothing but respect for and have always been a big fan of, but you can’t tell me that Ottawa couldn’t use him for now. Maybe it’s his contract that has teams wary.