Sean Avery Placed On Re-Entry Waivers

It's official. Today at noon, the Rangers placed Sean Avery on re-entry waivers, presumably with the intention of him rejoining the team in time to suit up for Thursday's game against the Anaheim Ducks at the Garden if he clears waivers. Teams will have a chance until noon tomorrow to claim Avery for half his salary.

There have been some rumors floating around that the Islanders, who waived forward Trevor Gillies today, could look to put a claim in on Avery, but all of that is just purely speculation no matter what you read. Nearly everyone in the media, including Pat Leonard, Larry Brooks and TSN, expect Avery to clear waivers and once again be a Ranger come tomorrow at 12:01 p.m.

According to Pat Leonard at the New York Daily News, if Avery is claimed by another team the Rangers would be on the hook for paying half his remaining salary and that half would also count against the salary cap. Because of this, Leonard speculates that the Rangers wouldn't risk recalling Avery unless they were certain he would clear re-entry waivers. The Rangers simply would have nothing to gain and everything to lose by calling Avery up if they thought there was a chance another team would claim him.

I would personally be very surprised if another team put a claim in on Avery. No teams were willing to take him on for $1.9 million a few weeks ago, so I have a hard time believing any team would want him now for a difference of only $1 million against the cap - especially a team like the Islanders, who have all the cap space in the world. Also, let's not forget that Avery also said after he was waived that the Rangers were the only team he wanted to play for since he still lives in New York and has no plans to relocate to go play anywhere else. That was the reason Avery reportedly turned down offers from Europe.

And I'll say this for Glen Sather: as much flack as he may take for his blunders as GM of the Rangers, he's still a widely respected hockey name throughout the league. He has a strong relationship with other GMs and, similar to other GMs staying away from making outlandish offers to other team's RFAs, this may be one of those situations that part of the whole "code" so to speak amongst GMs in the league, where other GMs don't screw over longtime GMs like Sather. Or it's possible this is all just wishful thinking on my part and I'm dead wrong. Either way, we'll find out tomorrow at 12:01 for sure.