Breaking: Veteran of 500+ NHL games placed on waivers

The Ottawa Senators have placed veteran forward Zack Smith on waivers, for the purposes of assigning him to the AHL.

Zack Smith has three years remaining on his deal with a $3.25M AAV, and is on waivers today.

The 30 year old Smith is the Sens’ longest serving player, having played 542 games in a Sens uniform and scoring 85 goals and 165 points along the way. The gritty winger is just two seasons removed from a breakout 25 goal, 36 point campaign in 2015-16, but he had a DREADFUL campaign in 2017-18, scoring just five goals and 19 points in 68 games. 

While today’s news may come as a surprise to Sens fans, word around the NHL is that Sens general manager Pierre Dorion has been trying, unsuccessfully, to trade Smith for awhile now. Today’s news is evidently his final option.

Senators have been trying to trade Zack Smith for some time. Guess this was last resort.

Ottawa tried to trade Zack Smith last season and this summer. He’s now on waivers with 3-years left on his deal. Bit of a surprise, frankly.

According to TSN insider Darren Dreger, there was some interest for Smith around the NHL, but the Sens’ frugality (read: utter cheapness) ultimately nuked any chance of a deal:

There was some interest, but because of salary, Ottawa would have had to take back a contract.

For now, Smith’s NHL future is in doubt. Will another NHL team take a chance on the former 25 goal scorer? For what it’s worth, he has three years left on a deal that pays him $3.25 million annually. That could be too rich of a contract for another team to take on. The ironic thing is that the Senators have a TON of cap space heading into the 2018-19 season and have a real need for veteran forward like Smith on the roster. Could this just be another case of owner Eugene Melnyk's cheapness biting the team in the behind once again? How long are Sens fans going to be held hostage by this cheap old man? With Smith's contract off the cap, the Sens will have approximately $15 million in cap space this season.