Last night, Damien Brunner recorded an assist in 11 minutes of action in New Jersey’s 5-3 win over Toronto.
Today, he’s on waivers.
The Devils placed Brunner on the wire Friday morning, this coming after he scored two goals and seven points in 17 games this season while averaging 15:09 TOI per game.
The 28-year-old Swiss winger has been in and out of the Devils lineup this year, never seeming to fully earn the trust of head coach Peter DeBoer. It’s possible New Jersey was also expecting much more from Brunner after inking him to a two-year, $5 million contract last season -- since joining the Devils he’s scored only scored 13 goals and 32 points in 77 games, failing to replicate the success he had with Detroit in his first NHL campaign.
Brunner, you’ll recall, had 26 points in 44 contests during the lockout-shortened ’13 season, then proved to be one of the Red Wings’ most consistent scorers in the playoffs, going for five goals and nine points in 14 games.
As mentioned above, Brunner’s in the last year of a deal that carries an average annual cap hit of $2.5M. While he’s a intriguing potential pickup because of his offensive ability, that cap hit could prevent teams from scooping him up.
