With a roster-cut deadline approaching, the Washington Capitals placed three players on waivers Monday, including defenseman Christian Djoos.
Over the summer, Djoos was awarded a one-year, $1.25 million contract in arbitration. The Capitals were almost $1.5 million over the cap heading into this week and the No. 6 and No. 7 defenseman jobs were up for grabs among Djoos, Jonas Siegenthaler and Martin Fehervary.
If Djoos clears waivers, he can be sent to the AHL affiliate Hershey Bears to take $1.075 million off the cap, NHL.com reported. But another team can claim Djoos in the next 24 hours, and if that happens, his full $1.25 million would be cleared.
Washington needs to bring its roster down to a maximum of 23 players by Tuesday, the day before the regular season begins. The front office technically must get under the cap by then, too, but the Evgeny Kuznetsov suspension will take some money off the books for the first three games of the season, giving the Capitals a bit more time to make those final decisions.
Djoos played 63 games for the Capitals in his rookie season of 2017-18, the year they won the Stanley Cup, and was a regular top-six defenseman last year before requiring surgery on his left leg.
The Capitals also placed forwards Liam O’Brien and Michael Sgarbossa on waivers and returned Shane Gersich to Hershey.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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