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For a little while Wednesday morning, it looked like the big news out of Dallas Stars practice would be that Alex Goligoski was filling in at fourth-line forward.
But then the CBC's Elliotte Friedman, during his daily bit of waiver-wire scanning, came across this piece of quite interesting news.
Aaron Rome (DAL) on waivers
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 23, 2013
Rome, who just returned to Dallas from a conditioning stint with the Texas Stars, has missed the entire season thus far while recovering from a pair of off-season hip surgeries. He played in 27 games for the Stars last season with five assists, a minus-2 rating and 18 penalty minutes after signing a three-year deal with $1.5 million cap hit in the 2012 off-season.
While I'm not sure anyone was expecting to see Rome on waivers before he'd played a single game for the Stars this season, the move makes some sense because the Stars would have been carrying eight defensemen with both Rome and Kevin Connauton joining the six who have played every game so far. And with Ryan Garbutt almost certainly being handed a several-game suspension sometime today, the Stars would be down to 12 available forwards without a recall from the Texas Stars.
As Mike Heika summarized shortly after the news broke, the Stars may simply be trying to give themselves some extra options with the numbers game at the moment.
A. Rome waivers could be just for options. If he clears, he has 10-game, 30-day window where he can be assigned. Gives extra forward option.
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) October 23, 2013
And honestly, given that the Stars are understandably reluctant to place rookie Connauton on waivers, Rome makes by far the most sense. It's certainly possible that he clears given his recent injury history and contract status.
We should know if Rome clears waivers some time Thursday.