Michael NylanderWe’ve just received confirmation that Michael Nylander cleared waivers today. That means that yesterday, the Capitals put the 37-year-old center up for grabs to any of the NHL’s other 29 teams that wanted him. Today, they found out nobody did.
Nylander is set to make three million dollars this season, which is slightly more than the Caps just agreed to pay their second best defenseman, Jeff Schultz. Additionally, Nylander has a salary cap hit of almost five million, based on the average he’s earned over his four-year contract. Last year, after the Capitals loaned him to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, Nylander put up eighteen points in twenty-four games. For comparison, the Caps just let the AHL’s best goal scorer, Alexandre Giroux, walk away from Hershey after Edmonton offered him a one way contract for reportedly less than $1.3 million.
Hershey signed the AHL’s second best goal-scorer in 2009, Kyle Greentree, to replace Giroux. We’re assuming the price-tag is under one million for a younger guy who figures to play more of a role with the organization than Nylander. But not everything about Nylander’s situation is doom and gloom. The first light at the end of the tunnel is that Nylander’s no-movement contract clause expires this summer.
