The Flyers fell victim to the waiver wire today losing Nicolas Aube-Kubel on a claim from Colorado. NAK was placed on waivers yesterday in what we assume was a move bracing for the return of Kevin Hayes.

#Flyers’ Nicolas Aube-Kubel has been claimed off waivers by Colorado.

There were a handful of teams poking around on NAK over the last 24 hours.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) November 13, 2021

Aube-Kubel was a second-round draft selection in 2014 that worked his way up into full-time NHL minutes. After his call-up in 2019-20, NAK posted 15 points in 36 games and earned the right to replace Tyler Pitlick.

I remember I used to refer to him as a “bottom-six Konecny” during his first year. Since then, his play was quite disappointing.

Only one point through 7 games this season, and 44 PIMs in 50 games last season. His discipline was becoming quite a problem and he would take killer penalties in big spots. That flare he had in 2019-20 never resurfaced, and he never became the Tyler Pitlick replacement Chuck had hoped.

Colorado is 5-5-1 and have been dealing with a litany of injuries thus far. The claiming of Aube-Kubel was likely in response to the hit their depth has taken with all of the ailments.

Let’s see if Hayes returns tonight.

Mandatory Credit: Frank Franklin II | AP