NHL teams waiving players with big contracts

NHL teams are putting big-money players on waivers. On Monday, the final day of waivers before opening-night rosters must be set, the Philadelphia Flyers waived

NHL teams are putting big-money players on waivers.

On Monday, the final day of waivers before opening-night rosters must be set, the Philadelphia Flyers waived defenseman Andrew MacDonald and the Calgary Flames waived Mason Raymond amid a flurry of transactions.

MacDonald has five years left on his contract at a salary-cap hit of $5 million. He'll still count $4.05 million against Philadelphia's cap even if he's sent to the American Hockey League.

''We're caught in a tough place here,'' Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said. ''We had to make a tough decision putting our best team on the ice, creating a roster spot and some cap space. It was a tough decision. Obviously, we know Mac is a good NHL player. Is it what we wanted to do? No. If we could have avoided it, we would have.''

Hextall said there was a chance MacDonald could return to the Flyers.

Raymond, caught in the Flames' logjam at forward, has two years left at a cap hit of $3.15 million.

The Boston Bruins waived forward Max Talbot, and the Winnipeg Jets waived defenseman Jay Harrison. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski was put on waivers by the Montreal Canadiens, with Mike Condon winning the backup job behind Carey Price. Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tim Erixon was waived by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Edmonton Oilers already made their money-saving moves, sending defenseman Nikita Nikitin and goalie Ben Scrivens to the minor leagues after they cleared. Nikitin has one year left at a cap hit of $4.5 million; Scrivens has a year left at $2.3 million.