With just one day to spare before the NHL's trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs placed Petr Mrazek, Kyle Clifford, and Harri Sateri on waivers. The Leafs had quietly signed Finland's Olympic gold medal winning goalie and were trying to sneak him through waivers in order to add some stability to their goaltending situation. By putting him on waivers with Petr Mrazek, maybe they hoped he wouldn't be noticed, but alas, the last place Arizona Coyotes put in a claim, and apparently several other teams did as well.
Sateri never had the opportunity to report to the team he had signed his contract with thanks to a ridiculous rule that any player who started the season in Europe must clear waivers. Even if the Leafs had attempted to trade for him, he would have to pass waivers again. If he had signed anywhere else, its likely he wouldn't have been claimed, but because it's the Leafs, teams seem to line up to snag any player who lands on their waiver wire. With the exception of Petr Mrazek, of course.
Once Arizona claimed him, not only did Sateri have to make new living arrangements and change destinations, he also had to secure a work visa in a different country than originally thought, cancel his Canadian work visa application and get himself on payroll with his new team. All of that takes time, but today Sateri finally hit the ice with the Coyotes for practice.
As a result of Sateri being claimed and Petr Mrazek's injury, the Leafs are in a bad way when it comes to goaltending. Jack Campbell is playing his way back into form, Erik Kallgren is doing his best as a rookie with 4 wins in his 6 starts, but from there it gets very thin. Joseph Woll and Ian Scott are both injured, Michael Hutchinson is floundering at the AHL level and the Marlies are using whatever goalies they can sign to a PTO in a desperate bid to have a warm body in the crease. Heck, they've even added Carter Hutton to the roster after originally leaving him with the Tuscon Roadrunners after acquiring him back in February.
