Edmonton Oilers place Souray and Gerber on Waivers
The Edmonton Oilers placed defenseman Sheldon Souray and goaltender Martin Gerber on waivers on Thursday. Souray was not invited to Oilers camp after requesting a trade and Gerber was signed in the summer to add some depth to the goaltender position.
The two players are currently going through waivers, meaning the 29 other National Hockey League franchises have until Friday at 12 to claim them. If a team claims one of the players they must place them on their roster and take over their contract.
Nevertheless, as Gerber was unsigned in the off-season and Souray has a two-year $10.8 million contract it is unlikely the two will be claimed.
The Oilers will be happy to see Gerber clear as he is set to take over as the club’s American Hockey League net-minder. However, the Oilers will be attempting to lose Souray’s contract anyway they can. For this reason the club may elect to put Souray through
re-entry waivers, which means that a team could then claim him and only pay half of his contract, while Edmonton pays the other half.
The 34-year-old Souray is still a capable defenseman and was subject to the injury bug last season, only playing in 37 games. Nevertheless, in his last full season in 2008-09 the Alberta native registered 23 goals and 53 points. This type of production could
make Souray worthwhile for club looking for veteran leadership.
Souray had a falling out with the Oilers organization and promptly asked to be traded. The Oilers brass attempted to accommodate the defender. However it was difficult to find a team willing to take on such a hefty contract. The relationship between Edmonton
and Souray got even worse when the Oilers asked him not to report for training camp. Instead Souray has been training on his own and will certainly be hoping he is pulled off re-entry waivers next week.
Last season with Edmonton Souray notched four goals and nine assists for 13 points.
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