Brunnstrom clears waivers; Benn skates

Fabian Brunnstrom has cleared waivers and will head to the Texas Stars, probably on Sunday.

As we said earlier, this could be for the rest of the season.

If a team really wants Brunnstrom, the Stars could bring him back through re-entry waivers and pay half of his $675,000 salary, but why not just leave him down there and retain his rights as a restricted free agent in the summer? We'll see what happens.

This clearly sends a message to Brunnstrom when no other team wanted to pick him up at what seems like a very reasonable price. There are obvious roster and salary cap issues that every team has to battle, but it seems pretty telling when not one team wanted to take a chance on him. Waiver pick-ups happen all of the time (see B.J. Crombeen and Brandon Segal), and Brunnstrom seemed to be a project that some team would want.

So, he will get the chance to polish his skills in the AHL now.

``I believe for Fabian, going down to play for Texas will be great,'' Stars coach Marc Crawford said. ``They could use a dose of skill in that lineup, and he'll play in all situations and learn to play in those tough situations. It's about the journey and getting street smart in the ways of hockey.''