Veterans Gagner, Weise Placed on Waivers

Sam Gagner and Dale Weise were both placed on waivers Monday as the Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers finalized their respective rosters.

Gagner struggled last season but was expected to start 2018-19 with Vancouver. He signed a three-year, $9.45-million contract on July 1, 2017 after registering 50 points with the Columbus Blue Jackets the year before. He put up just 31 points in 74 games last year and became expendable as the Canucks look to give their younger players more ice time. The move all but guarantees top-prospect Elias Pettersson a spot in the Canucks’ top-six and it frees up a roster spot for Taylor Motte. Motte, a fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013, has not been particularly impressive in his young career but played himself onto the roster this preseason. Vancouver also waived forward Darren Archibald.

The Flyers were expected to waive one of Weise or Taylor Leier but surprisingly waived both wingers on Monday. Weise’s contract carries a cap-hit of $2.35-million and is unlikely to be claimed by another team. He had just eight points in 46 games last season. Leier is more likely to be picked up. He’s just 24-years-old and carries a manageable cap-hit of $720,000. He was used sparingly last year but was third among Flyers’ forwards with 1:10 of shorthanded ice time per game. The pair of moves means veteran Jori Lehtera will maintain his spot on the roster for the time being.

NHL Waiver Wire, Monday October 1:

Trevor Murphy, ARI
Alexander Broadhurst, CBJ
Mark Alt, COL
David Warsofsky, COL
Justin Dowling, DAL
Joel Hanley, DAL
Ryan Murphy, MIN
Rocco Grimaldi, NSH
Tom Kuhnhackl, NYI
Taylor Leier, PHI
Dale Weise, PHI
Antoine Bibeau, SJS
Dmirtij Jaskin, STL
Chris Thorbun, STL
Curtis McElhinney, TOR
Calvin Pickard, TOR
Darren Archibald, VAN
Sam Gagner, VAN
Daniel Carr, VGK
Curtis Mckenzie, VGK
Aaron Ness, WSH