Update (3:19 PM): The official site has more, including quotes from Babcock and Ellis’ former teammates, here.
Also, IwoCPO suggests this is evidence that Ken Holland is up to something. - Matt
Ryan Doherty reports that the LA Kings claimed Matt Ellis off the waivers today.
Rarely do the Wings make personnel moves that deserve overt criticism, but this is one such instance. Yesterday, I attempted to keep a positive outlook on the move, assuming Ellis would clear waivers and would be able to return to Grand Rapids. The risk of his being claimed seemed small. I should have known better.
I have to wonder what the Wings were thinking by not taking another strategy to get Ellis to Grand Rapids. Say a two-week conditioning stint. It worked for Meech and certainly would have been justifiable for Ellis given the fact that he’s cracked the lineup just four times over the past 19 games.
Ellis was a real asset to this organization, much more so than Hartigan, and I’m sorry to see him go. The guy built a reputation as one of the hardest-working players in the system and the reward he gets is being cast off. If the Wings did this as a favor to help him get to a team that could use him more, that’s nice, I suppose. You still hate to see the guy have to uproot his young family and move 3/4 the way across the country.
Good luck with LA, Matt.