Breaking: Jets buy-out veteran defenseman Stuart

The Winnipeg Jets have announced that’ve placed defenseman Mark Stuart on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a contract buyout. The news was first reported by NHL insider Elliotte Friedman in a tidal wave of buy-out announcements in advance of the NHL’s buy-out deadline this afternoon.

According to capfriendly.com, Stuart’s buy-out will save the Jets approximately $1.1 million in 2017-18 but they’ll actually face a $583,000 penalty in 2018-19 given the unique rules of NHL contract buy-outs.

In 673 career games split between the Jets, the Atlanta Thrasher and the Boston Bruins, the 33 year-old Stuart has produced 26 goals, 93 points and 722 penalty minutes. He’ll hit the market as an unrestricted free agent tomorrow afternoon in the hopes of signing a new deal and continuing his NHL career elsewhere.