In an effort to ease their sudden salary-cap crunch, the Anaheim Ducks placed Chris Kreider on waivers for the purposes of contract termination.
The move — which is happening with Kreider’s approval — make the player an unrestricted free agent once he passes through. According to several sources, Kreider has indicated he desires to return east, closer to family where he spent the first 13 years of his career, and will not report if claimed somewhere he prefers not to play.
There definitely is interest. He has this season remaining on his current contract, at a $6.5 million cap hit, but only $4 million in cash still due after being paid a signing bonus on July 1.
Now in a much different cap situation due to Leo Carlsson’s matched $18 million offer sheet and a looming extension for 41-goal scorer Cutter Gauthier, Ducks GM Pat Verbeek was forced to jettison cash. Those same sources indicate he did not like the trade options presented to him, specifically “sweeteners” he might have to include to get it done.
That led to this option, which has become much more en vogue over the last season, although it’s rare to see a 50-point player — as Kreider was last season — go this route. We will see how things develop over the next 48 hours.
