Hurricanes place Brendan Lemieux on waivers for purpose of mutual contract termination

On Friday, the Carolina Hurricanes placed forward Brendan Lemieux on waivers for the purposes of a mutual contract termination.

If he were to clear on Sunday, Lemieux would become an unrestricted free agent.

The 28-year-old is in his second season with the Hurricanes organization. He made enough of an impact during the 2023-24 season to earn a one-year contract extension with a $775,000 cap hit through this year.

However, Lemieux has yet to appear in an NHL game this season. Shortly after the 2024-25 campaign began, he was placed on waivers. He eventually cleared and was sent down to Carolina’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. In his first spin in the AHL since the 2017-18 season, Lemieux has played just 12 games, scoring a pair of goals.

Lemieux was originally taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, 31st overall, in the 2014 NHL Draft. Before he ever made his NHL debut, he was involved in the trade that sent him and Tyler Myers to the Winnipeg Jets for Evander Kane in 2015. Lemieux went on to play parts of two seasons with the Jets before being dealt to the New York Rangers in the Kevin Hayes trade in Feb. 2019. A couple of years later, the Denver native was on the move again, a trade deadline acquisition of the Los Angeles Kings in March 2021. Late in the 2022-23 season, Lemieux was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for a pick, before coming to Raleigh the following year.

In 307 NHL appearances, Lemieux has scored 36 goals and 38 assists for 74 points, amassing 548 penalty minutes. He has one goal in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.