The Ottawa Senators have lost Matt Puempel to the New York Rangers.
The Senators placed Puempel on waivers Sunday, hoping he would clear and be eligible to play for the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League.
The Rangers, however, are optimistic that they can tap into the potential that made him a Senators first-round pick (24th overall) in 2011.
Puempel, 23, didn’t register a point in 13 games with the Senators this season. In 52 career NHL games with Ottawa, he scored four goals and two assists.
The emergence of Ryan Dzingel into a legitimate scoring threat and the return of Curtis Lazar from Binghamton essentially meant that Puempel was living on borrowed time in Ottawa.