The Golden Knights have finally done what many expected weeks ago, and placed some of their defensemen on waivers. Jason Garrison is the odd-man out according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, after only dressing for four games this season,
It seems as though George McPhee has finally accepted that a trade isn’t going to be possible for some of his assets, and has resigned to trying to squeeze them through waivers. Garrison is an unlikely claim, as he comes with a $4.6MM cap hit for this year (though he earns only $2.5MM in actual salary and is an unrestricted free agent next summer). The 32-year old defenseman was once one of the most frightening weapons in the league with the man advantage, scoring 16 goals with Florida in 2011-12. While his shot is still powerful, the rest of his game has deteriorated while powerplays are moving further and further away from relying on defensive shots from the point.
Garrison has made quite the career for himself after going undrafted and attending the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In 534 career games, he’s recorded 159 points and earned himself a six-year contract worth $27.6MM. While this seems like it may be the end of his NHL career this season, there may be renewed interest in him on the open market next summer, albeit with a greatly reduced price tag.
Vegas, to the ire of many of their fans, have been using the minor leagues to house some of their more interesting players. Shea Theodore, Alex Tuch and Vadim Shipachyov have all spent time in the minors, while the NHL squad carried nine or ten defensemen on the active roster. The waiver-exempt status all three hold has been an important asset to McPhee and the Golden Knights, but now as they get healthy they will need to make decisions on other players. Remember, there is a chance that Garrison is not assigned to the AHL after clearing waivers, as the team could instead make a different decision. Sometimes, players are waived to help their trade value, though in this case it still seems unlikely.
*This article previously linked to a erroneous report of Griffin Reinhart also being placed on waivers. He has instead been sent to the Chicago Wolves on a conditioning stint, but remains on the Vegas roster.
He won’t need to wait till next summer. Someone will sign him once he clears waivers if Las Vegas releases him
They cannot release him, without a mutual termination of his contract. That would require him to give up his entire salary, which at this point would be a little over $2MM.
Cheaper than his salary and I’m willing to bet he’d take the termination to land a job elsewhere.
This almost never happens. Brooks Laich, Milan Michalek, Zybnek Michalek, etc. have all been buried in the minors and never been released.
Makes sense he was first. Older, contract and technically Vegas already received assets for him from TB.