Veteran Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson is on his way out in the Detroit, but probably not totally gone from the organization.
In a tweet sent out by Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman, the Red Wings placed the d-man on waivers Tuesday morning.
Although the term waiver(s) could ignite joy amongst some Red Wings fans when seeing it paired with Ericsson, there are a few things to keep in mind with all of this.
First, it’s extremely unlikely that any team claims him before Noon ET tomorrow when the waiver deadline passes. With his contract ($4.25M) an given it’s still early in the season there’s no way anyone is going to take a flyer on the 35-year-old even as he sits on the IR.
Now if Ericsson clears (which he will), the Wings can assign him to Grand Rapids, however, will not find much relief on that $4.25 million AAV. According to Winging it in Motown, Detroit will receive cap relief of $375k + the minimum salary for this season of $700k for a total of $1.075M.
So almost $1.1 million in savings is certainly better than nothing for Detroit but the real relief for Steve Yzerman and the front office comes during the offseason when Ericsson’s albatross of a contract finally expires.