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Devils put Dainius Zubrus on waivers; intend to terminate contract

Devils put Dainius Zubrus on waivers; intend to terminate contract

The Lithuanian Love Machine era in New Jersey is officially over.

The team announced it has put forward Dainius Zubrus on unconditional waivers with the intention of terminating his contract. This would classify as a smart move by New Jersey.

If you had a player making $3.1 million for one more season – a 37-year-old guy who had just 10 points in 74 games a year ago – wouldn’t you not want him on your roster? Per the Bergen Record, his cap hit will remain, but, again ... if you're not going to play him, why keep him around?

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In Lou We Trust noted how Zubrus was a prime buyout candidate for New Jersey coming into the offseason.

He had one of the worst seasons of his career this past year, scoring 4 goals and 6 assists in 74 games played.  He even had more ice time than (Tuomo) Ruutu despite the worse production, averaging 14:39 per game.  He is due to make $3.1 million next season.  If the front office has a better idea with how to spend some of that money, or has a better idea with who to play in Zubrus' position, he could get bought out. 

According to General Fanager, the Devils already had the lowest salary cap hit in the NHL at $57,481,667.

Last week general manager Ray Shero said spending more money toward the cap was not wise for New Jersey at this moment. We all knew the Devils were going to have to purge a lot of these aging veteran contracts. And New Jersey still has 39-year-old Patrik Elias ($5.5 million) under contract for one more year. Oye …

But a buyout of a player like Zubrus does quicken the rebuild to some degree.

And for Zubrus, again ... what team would want a 37-year-old player who scored four goals last year?

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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