Scott Gomez placed on unconditional waivers by Blues
The St. Louis Blues have placed forward Scott Gomez on unconditional waivers in order to grant the center his release from the team.
The 36-year-old Gomez entered St. Louis training camp on a PTO and earned a roster spot with a one-year, two-way contract. This came after forward Patrik Berglund was placed on long term injured reserve following shoulder surgery.
Gomez’s deal was worth $575,000 in the NHL level and $200,000 in the AHL. His contract also included a $125,000 bonus depending on the number of games he played and a $100,000 bonus that depended on how well the Blues did in the postseason.
He was placed on waivers Tuesday, but went unclaimed.
Gomez scored one goal and added seven assists in 21 games played this season for the Blues. He averaged just over 11 minutes of ice-time per-game. Against the Dallas Stars last Sunday, Gomez played just 8:58. He hadn’t cracked the 10 minute mark in three games.
He had five points in five games in a November stretch, but hasn’t scored since then.
According to coach Ken Hitchcock, the Blues were starting to get healthy, which necessitated the move, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“He was good early,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “When we went down quick with all of those injuries — when Stastny was out — he was good early. But it’s not fair for him to come and play a role he’s never played before. It’s unfair for him. So hopefully somebody picks him up and he can play a top-six, top-nine role and have that support. But with (Kyle) Brodziak back in and obviously (Patrik) Berglund coming back in, he’s a player that would be just waiting for an injury and that can sometimes be a long wait.”
Last season, Gomez earned a roster spot with the New Jersey Devils off of a PTO and delivered with 34 points in 58 games played. In 1,066 games played, the Anchorage, Alaska native has 181 goals and 755 points.
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
– – – – – – –
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
