nccanes
06-19-2003, 06:57 AM
Blues start lowering payroll by waiving Bure
Tom Timmermann Post-Dispatch
updated: 06/18/2003 05:00 PM
The Blues have placed winger Valeri Bure on waivers, the first indication of the changes the team will go through to lower the payroll of a team that spent $60 million on players last season but was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Blues general manger Larry Pleau would not confirm that Bure has been put on waivers. "I'd rather not comment on that,'' he said by phone en route to the NHL Entry Draft, which starts Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Bure, acquired in a trade-deadline deal from Florida for second-year defenseman Mike Van Ryn, has a year to go on his contract, and under terms of the trade, the Blues were responsible for at least half of his $3.1 million salary. If Bure had more than 80 points this season, the Blues would have paid the whole thing. At that price, he would be the sixth-most expensive skater on the team.
After the season, Pleau said the Blues' payroll will be lower next season and that some players on the team definitely wouldn't be back. Putting Bure on waivers starts the process of shedding salaries. The Blues re-signed their other trade-deadline pickup, goalie Chris Osgood, to a one-year deal that will pay him $3 million next season, with incentives that could run that to $4 million.
What's uncertain is the demand for Bure, who has missed 82 games because of injuries over the past two seasons and has scored just 13 goals in that time. Including the postseason, Bure has gone 42 games without scoring a goal. If Florida were to claim him off waivers, the Blues would get a draft pick in exchange, but there are no indications that Florida wants him back. If no one claims Bure, he would remain the property of the Blues, pending their ability to trade him.
Bure, who turned 29 on Friday, had a knee injury when the Blues acquired him and didn't play in the first eight games after the trade. He then played in the final five games of the regular season, scoring no goals and having two assists.
In the postseason, he was a healthy scratch for Game 6 of the series with Vancouver but played in the other six games, usually on the fourth line. He had no goals and one assist and had eight penalty minutes, just two less than he had in 51 regular-season games. Overall, it was a disappointing season for Bure, who had just five goals and 23 assists.
Tom Timmermann Post-Dispatch
updated: 06/18/2003 05:00 PM
The Blues have placed winger Valeri Bure on waivers, the first indication of the changes the team will go through to lower the payroll of a team that spent $60 million on players last season but was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Blues general manger Larry Pleau would not confirm that Bure has been put on waivers. "I'd rather not comment on that,'' he said by phone en route to the NHL Entry Draft, which starts Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Bure, acquired in a trade-deadline deal from Florida for second-year defenseman Mike Van Ryn, has a year to go on his contract, and under terms of the trade, the Blues were responsible for at least half of his $3.1 million salary. If Bure had more than 80 points this season, the Blues would have paid the whole thing. At that price, he would be the sixth-most expensive skater on the team.
After the season, Pleau said the Blues' payroll will be lower next season and that some players on the team definitely wouldn't be back. Putting Bure on waivers starts the process of shedding salaries. The Blues re-signed their other trade-deadline pickup, goalie Chris Osgood, to a one-year deal that will pay him $3 million next season, with incentives that could run that to $4 million.
What's uncertain is the demand for Bure, who has missed 82 games because of injuries over the past two seasons and has scored just 13 goals in that time. Including the postseason, Bure has gone 42 games without scoring a goal. If Florida were to claim him off waivers, the Blues would get a draft pick in exchange, but there are no indications that Florida wants him back. If no one claims Bure, he would remain the property of the Blues, pending their ability to trade him.
Bure, who turned 29 on Friday, had a knee injury when the Blues acquired him and didn't play in the first eight games after the trade. He then played in the final five games of the regular season, scoring no goals and having two assists.
In the postseason, he was a healthy scratch for Game 6 of the series with Vancouver but played in the other six games, usually on the fourth line. He had no goals and one assist and had eight penalty minutes, just two less than he had in 51 regular-season games. Overall, it was a disappointing season for Bure, who had just five goals and 23 assists.