Panthers and Wild both take a risk on waivers Sunday.

The National Hockey League has seen more waiver activity this season than in other season I can draw on from my recent memory. We have seen the usual borderline NHL players hit the waiver wire frequently this season but what has made it truly unique has been the number of high profile players that have been placed on waivers. 

Teams obviously have demonstrated an increased willingness to take risks by placing valuable players on waivers, gambling that opposing teams will be unwilling to take on extra salary during this flat cap era of the NHL. On Sunday we saw another two examples of teams willing to gamble with players that you would normally not expect to see on waivers, with the Florida Panthers and the Minnesota Wild both placing valuable members of their rosters up for grabs. 

In the case of the Minnesota Wild it will be veteran goaltender Alex Stalock headed to waivers, and with goaltenders being in very high demand this season there's no question that this is indeed a risk. The 33 year old netminder has not played for the Wild this season but he is just one season removed from 38 appearances for the Wild in which he recorded a .910 save percentage and a 2.67 goals against average.

What also makes Stalock particularly vulnerable at this stage is that he earns a relatively small salary of $785,000 per season. Stalock is currently in the second year of a 3 year deal, so there is a possibility that the extra year of term will cause teams to shy away from picking him up.

In the case of the Florida Panthers we've got arguably an even more valuable player in 28 year old forward Brett Connolly, but he will also come with a bigger price tag. Connolly like Stalock is in the second year of his deal, although his contract is a 4 year deal which means that he has an additional 2 years beyond this season remaining on that contract. His cap hit of $3.5 million per season will prove to be the biggest hurdle here, but in spite of that I don't think it is outside of the realm of possibility to see him picked up.

Connolly has made 16 appearances for the Florida Panthers this year and has 1 goal and 2 assists to his name over that stretch. He's also kept his nose clean without a single penalty minute on the season and currently boasts a plus minus rating of +4 through those 16 games played.