The St. Louis Blues placed veteran forward Jonathan Drouin on waivers Tuesday for the purpose of buying out his contract.
Drouin, 31, is signed through the 2026-27 season and carries a cap hit of $4 million. The buyout would reduce the Blues’ cap charge to $1.33 million in each of the next two years.
Drouin had one goal and two assists in nine games with St. Louis after being acquired as part of the March 6 trade that sent forward Brayden Schenn to the New York Islanders. For the season, he had a total of 24 points (four goals, 20 assists) in 64 games.
He has 398 points (111 goals, 287 assists) in 671 career games with five teams since being drafted in the first round (third overall) by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013.
TSN reported that Drouin intends to continue his NHL career and likely will have options on the free-agent market.
Also Tuesday, the Blues tendered qualifying offers to two restricted free agents: forward Connor McMichael and defenseman Leo Loof.
