Flyers Waive Defenseman Andrew MacDonald

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.

“It was a tough decision”, said Hextall, whose club opens the regular season Thursday night at Tampa Bay.

MacDonald, 29, was awful when healthy last season and bad in three preseason games this year, but the Flyers seemed stuck with him due to his contract.

The Flyers will reap minimal benefit here by shaving just $950,000 off their cap. “We had to make a tough decision putting our best team on the ice, creating a roster spot and a few cap space”. No. If we could have avoided it, we would.

This move guaranteed a roster spot for the 21-year-old Laughton, who Hextall said deserved to be here.

If MacDonald clears waivers, “I’m convinced at a few point he’ll be back here and be a productive player for us”, Hextall said. Mac is a good player and I’m convinced he will be back in the National Hockey League and a good player at a few point.

“Scotty pushed hard and I give him credit”, Hextall said.

Viewed as a puck-moving blueliner, MacDonald was playing big minutes for the New York Islanders when dealt to the Flyers on March 4, 2014 for a 2014 third-round pick, a 2015 second-rounder and minor-league forward Matt Mangene. He had to come in here and really make us a better team. “We’ll get by it and move on …” Thus far, that is what he has done.

Raymond, caught in the Flames’ logjam at forward, has two years left at a cap hit of $3.15 million. It’s much more likely that a team would have scooped Schenn up if he were placed on waivers, so now the Flyers have more trade flexibility this season. “He pushed the envelope and made this team”. The 29-year-old defenseman will then be sent to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. For now, though, here was how Hextall described his reaction: “Probably typical”. The team is slightly over the cap, according to General Fanager, and has over $4.5 million tied up in retained or buried salaries.