Vatanen agreed to terms on a one-year contract with Swiss club Geneve-Servette on Monday.
Vatanen split last season between New Jersey and Dallas after being claimed off waivers by the Stars in April. In total, the 30-year-old blueliner appeared in 39 games in which he tallied just six points. Given his limited offensive upside, few fantasy players should be impacted by his move away from the NHL.
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Stars' Sami Vatanen: Back from one-game absence
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Vatanen (upper body) had two shots and one block in Saturday's 2-1 overtime win over Detroit.
Vatanen missed Thursday's tilt with the Red Wings but returned to log 13:41 of ice time on the back end, all of it at even strength. The 29-year-old, who is looking for his first point with Dallas, has two goals and four assists in 36 games overall this season between the Stars and Devils.
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Stars' Sami Vatanen: Ready to rock
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Vatanen (upper body) will be available for Saturday's game versus the Red Wings, Matthew DeFranks of The Dallas Morning News reports.
At this point it isn't clear if Vatanen will be in the lineup against Detroit, but he'll be available if needed. The 29-year-old blueliner has tallied six points through 30 games this campaign.
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Stars' Sami Vatanen: Dealing with injury
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Vatanen (upper body) won't suit up in Thursday's game against Detroit, Matthew DeFranks of The Dallas Morning News reports.
The specifics of the injury remain unclear, but the Finn will miss his first game since Feb. 16. Vatanen has had a decent season to this point, supplying six points and 37 blocks across 17:14 of average ice time. Vatanen's next chance to suit up is in Saturday's game against Detroit, and he'll be replaced by Joel Hanley in the lineup Thursday.
Vatanen was placed on waivers by the Devils on Sunday, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports.
Vatanen has played in 29 straight games for the Devils. The 29-year-old has recorded five points and 36 blocked shots this year. He's under contract at a $2 million cap hit, so he could be claimed on waivers by a team needing blue-line depth ahead of the playoffs.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Pockets helper
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Vatanen recorded an assist in Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Penguins.
Vatanen was waived Sunday morning, but he stayed in the lineup. The assist was just his sixth points in 30 contests this year as he's struggled through one of his worst scoring campaigns. The Finn has added 37 blocked shots, 41 shots on net and a plus-2 rating in 2020-21. It'll be known Monday if Vatanen cleared waivers or if he's been claimed by another team.
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Stars' Sami Vatanen: Scooped off waivers
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The Stars claimed Vatanen off waivers from the Devils on Monday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Vatanen recorded six points through 30 games with the Devils this season, and he'll get a fresh start with the Stars. It's an interesting pickup by the Stars, as they're on the outside looking in at a playoff spot, though there's little risk because of Vatanen's reasonable one-year, $2 million contract. Vatanen could make his Stars debut as early as Tuesday versus the Panthers.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Goes plus-3 in defeat
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Vatanen had one shot, one block and a plus-3 rating in Tuesday's 5-4 shootout loss to Boston.
New Jersey's third paring of Vatanen and Ryan Murray submitted a strong two-way performance, but this is about the best you can expect from Vatanen at this point in his career. He reached the 37-point mark twice with Anaheim but has only five points in 24 games with season.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Picks up first point
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Vatanen had an assist and a minus-2 rating in Thursday's 6-1 loss to the Rangers.
Vatanen scored his first point of the season on a fluky assist, as his pass went all the way down the ice and bounced off the end boards onto the stick of Jack Hughes, who deposited it into the net for the game's first goal. The 29-year-old Finn has topped the 35-point mark twice, but the last time he did so was in 2015-16 with Anaheim, and injuries seem to have sapped much of his offensive effectiveness since then.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Will debut Thursday
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Vatanen is expected to make his season debut Thursday against the Bruins, Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports.
Vatanen has yet to play this season due to the NHL's COVID-19 protocols, so he'll likely have some rust to shake off against the Bruins. The 29-year-old blueliner picked up 23 points in 47 games last campaign.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Could debut Thursday
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Vatanen (not injury related) will be added to the Devils' active roster and could make his season debut Thursday against the Bruins, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.
Vatanen has yet to play this season due to the NHL's COVID-19 protocols, but it looks like he's on track to make his debut against Boston. The 29-year-old blueliner picked up 23 points in 47 games with New Jersey last campaign.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Can't go Tuesday
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Vatanen (not injury related) won't play in Tuesday's game versus the Rangers, Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports.
Vatanen cleared the NHL's COVID-19 protocol Sunday and has been practicing with the team. He'll need more time to get his conditioning right, so the 29-year-old's season debut is on hold for now. His next chance to play is Thursday versus the Bruins.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Practicing Monday
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Vatanen (COVID-19 protocols) was on the ice for Monday's practice, Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports.
Vatanen's return could clear the way for him to be activated off non-roster injured reserve ahead of Tuesday's clash with the Rangers. If the defenseman does suit up, it will be his first appearance of the season.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Removed from protocol
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Vatanen cleared the NHL's COVID-19 protocol Sunday, Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports.
Vatanen is on injured reserve, so he'll still need to be activated officially before he's eligible to enter the lineup. Expect the Finn to resume a regular role in the Devils' top-four when he returns.
Vatanen was added to the NHL's COVID-19 list Monday, Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports.
Vatanen was removed from the protocol list over the weekend but finds himself back there again. Because the NHL already postponed the Devils' games for the next week, the 5-foot-10 defenseman won't be back in action until at least Feb. 16. Vatanen should be ready to make his season debut by that point.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Lifted from protocol list
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Vatanen was removed from the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list Sunday, Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports.
Vatanen will still have to be added to the active roster before suiting up in a game. The 29-year-old blueliner was dealing with an immigration delay and hasn't played yet this season. He'll have a chance to return Tuesday against the Penguins but it's unclear if he'll be ready by then.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Still sidelined
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Vatanen (immigration) has yet to join the team, though coach Lindy Ruff expects an update soon, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.
Considering Vatanen still hasn't joined the team, he will almost certainly miss the club's next two games versus the Islanders. The emergence of Ty Smith has given the Devils some added depth on the blue line, which will make it that much harder for Vatanen to secure regular minutes and avoid being a healthy scratch from time-to-time.
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Devils' Sami Vatanen: Starts season on IR
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Vatanen will start the season on injured reserve due to visa issues, per TSN.
Vatanen will need to quarantine for seven days once he arrives in New Jersey, so he likely won't be ready to play for a while. The 29-year-old blueliner picked up 23 points in 47 games with the Devils last season, and he will likely slot into a top-four role once he's ready to rock.
