The Coyotes are parting ways with one of their minor league veterans as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they have placed center Jean-Sebastien Dea on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating the final year of his contract. He is the only player on waivers today.
The 29-year-old has been a productive player in the AHL throughout his career. Last season, he finished third in scoring with AHL Tucson, notching 23 goals and 27 assists in 67 games. That helped earn him four appearances with Arizona, the most single-season games he had played at the top level since 2020-21.
For his career, Dea has played in 517 career AHL games spanning 11 seasons, recording 153 goals and 188 assists. However, his NHL time has been limited as he has just 37 appearances with four different organizations where production has been much harder to come by as he has just five goals and two helpers to his name.
Dea had one year left on his contract which paid $775K in the NHL and had a guaranteed salary of $300K in the minors that he will be walking away from; Arizona will have no lingering cap charge. TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie adds (Twitter link) that Dea requested his release to pursue an opportunity in Europe. Once Dea clears waivers on Sunday, the Coyotes will be free to terminate his deal, making him a free agent and lowering their number of contracts to 47 out of the limit of 50.