Feeling Defensive and Snubbed

Before the second 3 in 3 weekend of the season commences, how about a little update?  Okay, a big one:

-On Tuesday the Washington Capitals placed former Devil defenseman Alexander Urbom on waivers.  Cue the speculation!  Is he going to clear and end up in Hershey?  Would another team take a chance on him?  Or do the Devils correct their pre-season error and take him back?  On Wednesday, we got our answer: New Jersey picked him up, and since no other team put in a claim, per the CBA they were able to reassign him to Albany.  After being claimed by the Capitals before the season, he appeared in 20 games and registered a goal and an assist.  He last appeared in a game on November 29th, and had been a healthy scratch since.

-Earlier today, another roster surprise: New Jersey announced that 2011 first round pick Adam Larsson had also been reassigned to Albany.  He has not appeared in game action since November 23rd in San Jose, when he went down with a knee injury.  He had appeared in 20 games and posted 3 points (1 G, 2 A).  It doesn’t say if it’s a conditioning assignment, so I wonder if it’s just another creative roster move (as Lou has done a lot of lately; see Gelinas, Eric) to get someone off injured reserve, or if he’s staying here for an extended period.

With the additions of Urbom and Larsson, the roster now stands at 9 defensemen.  So something has to give with the current defensive corps.  We shall see as we go into tomorrow night.

UPDATE: A little clarification of why Larsson is here…and why Joe Whitney has yet to get a callup.

-And finally, earlier today the AHL announced its 20 man All Star roster that will take on Farjestads BK in St. John’s on February 12th.  With the number of All Stars reduced from its normal number of 48 (under the normal East vs. West theme) to one team of 20, there was a very good chance that not only would all 30 teams not have representation, there would be quite a few snubs.  In a year where if it were the normal routine, there easily could have been at least one, if not two, Devils (namely Keith Kinkaid and Joe Whitney) on the roster.  But not this time.  Not one Devil was named to the squad, one of 14 teams shut out.  You can see the full list here.