New York Rangers forward Matt Beleskey cleared waivers and was assigned to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack on Thursday.
It’s the latest setback for Beleskey, who has been scratched for more games than he’s played in over the past two seasons.
Beleskey is in the fourth year of a five-year, $19.8-million deal he signed in 2015 when he was a member of the Boston Bruins. The 30-year-old inked that deal in free agency after scoring a career-high 22 goals the season prior with the Anaheim Ducks, the team that selected him in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
Beleskey had 15 goals and 37 points in 80 games in his first year with the Bruins and has struggled mightily ever since.
He had just three goals and five assists in 49 appearances with Boston in 2016-17 and failed to register a point in 14 games with the Bruins in 2017-18 before he was sent to the Rangers in the trade that brought Rick Nash to the Bruins. Beleskey also played 21 games with the Providence Bruins and 14 games with the Wolf Pack one season ago. Even in those 35 AHL games, Beleskey mustered only 12 total points.
Coyotes forward Mario Kempe also cleared waivers Thursday. Arizona assigned Kempe to the Tucson Roadrunners in the AHL after the 30-year-old Swede went pointless in four games with the Coyotes this season.
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