Two players placed on NHL waivers on Feb. 5

A couple of players might be eligible to find a new home soon.

On Thursday, the New Jersey Devils placed forward Juho Lammikko on waivers, as did the Florida Panthers with forward Josh Davies. Both are for the purpose of contract termination.

If both players clear waivers on Friday, they’ll become free agents.

Lammikko has been with the Devils all season. He signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the team this past June, returning to North America after spending the previous three seasons with the ZSC Lions of the National League in Switzerland.

Things haven’t quite worked out for the 30-year-old. Along with an injury earlier in the campaign, he has missed a number of games as a healthy scratch. While he was placed on waivers last month, Lammikko cleared, but wasn’t sent down to the Devils’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Utica Comets. He’s played a few more games, but with New Jersey acquiring forward Nick Bjugstad from the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, there wasn’t going to be any room for Lammikko on the main roster moving forward.

In 24 games, the Finnish center has registered just two points, with a plus/minus of -2 while averaging less than 10 minutes of ice time per game. In 183 career games in the NHL, he has scored 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points.

Davies has never appeared in an NHL game. Once taken by the Panthers in the sixth round of the 2022 NHL Draft, the Calgary native has spent his entire pro career in the minors. Along with playing 18 games for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers last season, he has been primarily with the Savannah Ghost Pirates, Florida’s ECHL affiliate.

In 65 ECHL contests, Davies has scored 19 goals and nine assists for 28 points.