Yesterday, it was reported that University of Massachusetts-Lowell defenseman Will Eiserman was leaving school to return to the USHL. Today, there are two reports stating that the Steel won the claim to Eiserman, whose rights were owned by the Tri-City Storm.
Keeping Eiserman's rights and adding him to their roster would prove a fruitless endeavor. As an overager, there weren't too many options for Eisterman in the USHL. The Steel, with a sudden shortage of defenseman with Tobias Ruelykke dinged up, and Christian Neumann possibly out with a concussion, had a need for a defenseman right now. With Ali Thomas traded earlier (who would ironically give Neumann his injury opening the spot on D), the Steel only had three overagers: Ruelykke, Joel Benson, and Danny McNamara.
The addition of Eiserman, a defensive defenseman with a left shot, gives the Steel a very experienced defensive corps. Three 92's, an NHL draft pick (Jaccob Slavin), a former 1st round futures draft pick (Tim Davison), being rounded out by one of the top players in +/- this season (Neumann), the younger brother of an NHL player (Johnny Wingels, brother of the San Jose Sharks' Tommy Wingels). And finally, there's Brian Leblanc, who, to me, looks more natural on wing than D. Still, can't ask too much out of a guy who is presumably the team's ninth defenseman.
Where Eiserman specifically fits into the Steel's lineup remains to be seen. If Ruelykke isn't hurt too badly, the Steel could theoretically run their defense in a way that there's a '92 out there on D every second of the game. I'm personally a big fan of this. The Steel's top six (again, this is all on the assumption that Neumann's hurt for a while) could look something like Ruelykke - Slavin, Benson - Davison, and Wingels - Eiserman.
Since this was just a waiver claim, I see it as a great move. Adding a player with NCAA experience can help mentor the younger kids, and get them past some bumps in the road with knowledge that only comes with time and experience.
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