General manager Paul Holmgren announced just shortly after noon on Monday that the Flyers have placed 29-year-old goaltender Michael Leighton on waivers.
“It’s something that we’ve thought about here over the last few days,” said Holmgren. “There’s really two reasons for doing this. One, it’s in the best interest of the Flyers at this time, and number two, it’s in the best interest of Michael. We need to get Michael playing at a higher level, and unfortunately when you have a goaltender situation like we have, it’s hard to do right now.”
Under conditions of being placed on waivers, any of the remaining teams in the NHL can claim him and would be responsible for paying his full salary with it counting against their salary cap.
Should the Flyers need to put him through re-entry waivers and activate him on their roster, teams could claim him and would only be on the hook for paying half of his salary, with the other half counting against the Flyers.
“Brian Boucher’s played extremely well right now, and so has Sergei Bobrovsky,” added Holmgren. “We expect them to continue to play well, and we need to get Michael playing at the level he can play at. It’s unfortunate that it has to come to this, but I think Michael's understanding of it, and assuming he clears waivers, we’ll send him to the Phantoms tomorrow [Jan. 4].”
In order to report to Adirondack, Leighton must remain unclaimed within a 24-hour period.
Quote:
Being waived however, doesn’t necessarily mean goodbye. That is simply the risk that team’s have to make especially now in the salary cap era.
“The first part of the risk is now with Michael on waivers, we might lose him,” said Holmgren. “The second part is, when we get to that point, is trying to get him through re-entry. So we’ll deal with the first part first, and then go from there. I think this gives everybody a chance to continue to work on their game and hopefully Brian can stay at the level he’s at and Sergei can continue to develop, and we can get Michael up to speed.”
Fans and the organization will now have to wait until high noon on Jan. 4 before we officially know if Michael Leighton is still Flyers property.
Michael Leighton has cleared waivers, according to a league source.
The Flyers placed the 29-year-old goaltender on the waiver wire Monday, just days after he played in his first game for the Flyers this season, a 7-4 victory in Los Angeles.
He is expected to report to the Flyers' AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms.
"I’m really disappointed and I’m disappointed in myself and the fact that I got injured," Leighton said. "There’s nothing I can do about that. It was a tough situation. Everyone tells me it’s not my fault it happened. If one of these guys weren’t playing well, it might have made for an easier decision but both these guys are playing well."
When the clock struck noon yesterday, Michael Leighton was left without a date for the dance.
Leighton was waived, for the fifth time in his NHL career, by the Flyers on Monday. He had hoped to stay in the NHL.
Leighton was passed over by all 29 NHL teams and officially cleared waivers yesterday. He was reassigned to the Adirondack Phantoms, likely putting a permanent cap on his magical 1-year run with the Flyers.
lol. Didn't expect this at all. He signed him to be our starter, overpaid on top of it, and waives him after a total of one game played this year. Not expected at all.
Pizza yesterday, Pancakes this morning, Flyers win, Holmgren resolves the goalie issue and I will hear less *****ing from Kaktus and Garbage Goal. Happy Birthday to me.
lol. Didn't expect this at all. He signed him to be our starter, overpaid on top of it, and waives him after a total of one game played this year. Not expected at all.
I'm definitely happy about it though.
I wonder if the injury thing isn't completely settled. After all, he sort of kept the team in the dark.
I think this goes back to the injury nonsense, Homer was a retard to consider giving out the deal in the first place, but if Leighton really was hurt and didn't let the organization know, that's very crappy behavior on his part.
woop woop. No one can no longer rip on homer for this deal. He has done the right thing. Maybe Bob will go back to form without the pressure of the will he wont he trouble going on.
The only problem is when Boosh and Bob go down within days of each other next month, who will we have in net? You know it's going to happen, the Flyers can never stay healthy.
