The Philadelphia Flyers have waived veteran defenseman Andrew MacDonald, the team announced on Monday.
MacDonald, 29, has five years remaining on a contract that carries an AAV of $5 million. The team plans on sending MacDonald to the AHL if (read: when) he clears waivers Tuesday at noon. With MacDonald in the minors, the Flyers will get a a little cap relief, but not much. It will cost the team $4.05 million against the cap to have MacDonald play in the American League.
The decision couldn’t be easy to take MacDonald and that massive cap hit and bury it. The Globe & Mail’s James Mirtle quotes Flyers GM Ron Hextall as saying, “If we could have avoided it, we would have.” That probably goes without saying. The team is slightly over the cap, according to General Fanager, and has over $4.5 million tied up in retained or buried salaries.
Hextall on MacDonald: "I think he was shocked."
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) October 5, 2015
Last season MacDonald played 58 games for the Flyers, scoring just two goals and 10 assists. Despite getting over 2% ZSO%Rel he put up a -1.3% CF%Rel, the fourth straight season he’s posted a negative relative possession numbers.
#Flyers to place D Andrew MacDonald on waivers at noon → http://t.co/uOWzUpnIYY
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 5, 2015
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