Luke Gazdic Clears Waivers, Assigned To Albany (AHL)

New Jersey Devils left Luke Gazdic has cleared waivers, the team announced (via Twitter).  He has been assigned to their AHL affiliate in Albany.

Gazdic joined New Jersey back in the summer, signing a one year, two-way deal worth $700K in the NHL and $200K in the minors.  However, he broke his foot during the preseason and has been on injured reserve ever since.  Teams cannot waive injured players so it would appear that he is ready to return to action.

Injured players are eligible to have a two week conditioning stint in the minors without having to go through waivers.  However, in those cases, the player is on the active roster and continues to count in full against the salary cap.  By waiving him, the Devils get Gazdic off the roster and salary cap and will now be able to keep him in the minors as long as they deem necessary instead of being restricted to just two weeks.

The 27 year old enforcer has 136 career NHL games under his belt, recording just eight points (5-3-8) but also has 194 penalty minutes and 214 hits despite averaging just 6:21 of ice time per game.

[Related: Devils Depth Chart]