Here is the player, his current team, and his salary cap hit:

• Bryan Berard, Columbus ($2.25-million)
• Petr Cajanek, St. Louis ($1.85-million)
• Marc Chouinard Vancouver ($1.1-million)
• Niko Kapanen, Atlanta ($850,000)
• Brian Boucher, Chicago ($475,000)
• Jason Krog, N.Y. Rangers ($475,000)
• Aaron Downey, Montreal ($475,000)
• Michael Leighton, Philadelphia ($450,000)
• Denis Hamel, Atlanta ($450,000)

More to come…

More to follow…

MacDonald has until Saturday afternoon to pass through waivers. Should he clear, he could either remain with the big club or be assigned to the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate.

Because of their depth on defense, the Thrashers have not been able to find room for Vishnevski in their line-up since January 20, so the move does not come as a shock.

As for Belanger, an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, he comes over from the Predators who just acquired him the day before from the Carolina Hurricanes.

“This is one of those deals that works out well for all three teams without it initiating that way,” [Thrashers GM Don] Waddell said.

UPDATE: Custance is also reporting that the Thrashers have claimed forward Denis Hamel off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Saturday morning.

Samsonov was placed on waivers on Tuesday after published reports suggested he wanted out of Montreal.

Despite his potential and past performances, Samsonov earns $3.525 million this season and next, a huge factor in why no team claimed him. Samsonov wasn’t surprised.

“There’s a lot of teams pretty high on the salary cap and, with my salary and my statistics, I’d be a tough pick-up, I guess,” he said.

The focus of many trade rumors this season, Samsonov never really fit in Montreal. His seven goals and 15 assists through 52 games have him on pace for just 34 points this season.

Samsonov is in his first year of a two-year, $7 million deal he signed in the summer.

Should no team claim Kasparaitis, the Rangers will send the veteran to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Kasparaitis, who had “previously spent a two-week conditioning stint” in Hartford, is expected to remain with the Wolf Pack for the rest of the season.

It’s believed that this move “had to be done” to clear cap room so the “struggling Rangers [can] add a player from the minors.” With $3.3 million remaining on his contract, Kasparaitis is the perfect salary dump especially when considering his play this season.

Kasparaitis has been a healthy scratch for “several games” before the All-Star break, while playing in only 24 games this season and registering two goals and two assist for four points.

For his part, Kasparaitis “feels he can still contribute—even with another club,” though he felt “under scrutiny” the entire season, and has “wondered if his time with the team was drawing to a close.”

“He’s an NHL goaltender,” Kings GM Dean Lombardi told The Canadian Press. “He’s a character guy. But we’re not sure what to expect. In fairness to him, he hasn’t played a lot this year.”

Burke has spend the entire season with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, where he has “played in seven games, posting a 4.52 goals against average and .856 save percentage.”

With this move, the Kings have added some NHL experience to their depleted goaltending ranks. Recent injuries have claimed both Dan Cloutier and Mathieu Garon, the Kings’ top two goalies, leaving the team with “inexperienced goaltenders Barry Brust and Yutaka Fukufuji.”

“Let’s face it, in fairness to the kids that are playing for us right now, they’re just not NHL goalies,” said Lombardi. “It’s not fair to Brust or Fukufuji, they’re not ready for this. It’s not their fault.”

As for the Lightning, they have cleared $350,000 in cap space, “considered a significant amount as the Lightning position for the possibility of improvement leading up to next month’s NHL trade deadline.”

Since the Kings claimed Burke off re-entry waivers they will split the rest of the “approximately $700,000″ the goalie is still owed on his $1.6 million contract.

In order to activated captain Scott Mellanby from the injured reserve list, the Thrashers had to clear a roster spot. Krog became the odd man out when he was placed on waivers, and eventually picked-up by the Rangers.

Rumors have been circulating for a while that the Rangers have been looking to add a center to their line-up to help improve their secondary scoring. It’s unknown at the moment if Krog is that player, or if the Rangers have plans to make further roster additions.

In 14 games with the Thrashers, the 31-year-old Krog scored one goal and three assists, and has a +3 rating. Krog has also played in the AHL this season, registering 19 goals and 33 assists for 52 points.

With both Flyers’ goaltenders Antero Niittymaki and Robert Esche “nursing or recovering from injuries,” Leighton’s addition is merely for depth purposes, according to team officials.

“I think more than anything, [Leighton] is an insurance policy for us,” general manager Paul Holmgren said. “We think that he is a good, young goalie.”

It is expected that Leighton will report to the Flyers, with the team said to be caring “all three goalies for the remainder of the season.”

This is the second time this season Leighton was claimed on waivers: on November 27 he was picked up by the Nashville Predators from the Anaheim Ducks.

Over the past three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Predators, Leighton has accumulated 8 wins, 21 losses, and 14 ties, with three shutouts and a 2.98 goals-against average.

This will be the second time Green will wear the Blue and White in his career. Green was a Leaf for two seasons from 2001 to 2003.

With Darcy Tucker, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Kyle Wellwood, and Nik Antropov, still injured, the Leafs felt that they needed to add some depth at their forward ranks. And with Antropov being placed on long term injury list, “the Maple Leafs had the financial flexibility to absorb Green’s minimal salary of $500,000.”

To make room for Green, forward Eric Westrum was assigned to the Leafs’ AHL affiliate.

In seven games with the Ducks this season, Green has one goal and one assist for two points, with a +3 rating.

An integral part of the Lightning’s 2004 Stanley Cup win, Afanasenkov was placed on waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning along with forward Andreas Karlsson last Saturday. According to Lightning GM Jay Feaster the move was a “function of trying to free up some cap space to give us some flexibility as we move forward,” and nothing more.

His new boss, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren believes that with a little more playing time, and a better opportunity to play on a scoring line, the Afanasenkov could develop into a better player than he was with the Lightning.

“Let’s be honest, he didn’t get a lot of opportunity to play there, minutes-wise. They’ve got Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis. Those three some nights played 30 minutes, so it leaves the other guys not getting much power-play time … we think Dmitry has a lot of skills, whether he can finish or not remains to be seen. For what it cost us, there’s a good chance to see if there’s more there.”

Afanasenkov earns $738,045 this season, after which becomes a restricted free agent.

The 35-year-old previously played for the Oilers at the end of the 2003-04 season, and it appears that he left a good impression on management.

“He was a good fit last time and we think he can help us out again,” Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe told the Associated Press.

Before it became official that the Oilers had acquired Nedved, reports suggested that the Ottawa Senators had also placed a claim on the Czech forward.

Now comes word that another team, the Toronto Maple Leafs had elevated interest in picking up Nedved off waivers.

Nedved makes $2.356 million this season, but due to waiver rules in the new CBA, the Flyers will split the salary with the Oilers 50/50.