BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres placed suspended defenseman Zach Bogosian on unconditional waivers Friday with the intention of terminating his contract.
The move puts the Sabres in position to part ways with a disgruntled player who asked to be traded earlier this season and spent the past week refusing to report to Buffalo's American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester, New York.
Bogosian will have an opportunity to sign with another team to finish out the season, but the 12-year veteran will lose what's left of the $6 million he is owed in the final year of his contract should he go unclaimed by noon Saturday.
Under NHL rules, Bogosian must be signed by the NHL's trade deadline on Monday afternoon to be eligible to compete in the playoffs.
There is little expectation Bogosian will be claimed after he cleared waivers a week ago in order for the Sabres to assign him to the minors.
The end of Bogosian's tenure in Buffalo comes a little more than five years after he was acquired along with forward Evander Kane in a multiplayer trade with the Winnipeg Jets. The Sabres gave up four players, including defenseman Tyler Myers, and a first-round draft pick in the first major move in then-general manager Tim Murray's rebuilding plans.
The trade failed to pan out for a Sabres team currently in jeopardy of extending the NHL's longest playoff drought to a ninth year. Kane was traded to San Jose two years ago, while Bogosian has been hampered by a series of injuries — including two hip operations over the past three years.
Bogosian has one goal and four assists in 19 games this season after missing Buffalo's first 22 games while recovering from hip surgery. He played 10 consecutive games before being scratched, which prompted him to request a trade. He was then a healthy scratch in eight of nine games before being placed on waivers last week.
Bogosian, who is from New York, was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers with the third pick in the 2008 draft, and he followed the franchise as it relocated to Winnipeg in 2011. Overall, he has 53 goals and 141 assists in 636 career games.
