One year after posting the best season of his career, Kyle Chipchura is on waivers.
The Coyotes made the move on Friday, waiving the 28-year-old center that’d been with the club since 2011. The move comes after Chipchura played 9:39 in Thursday’s ugly 4-0 loss at home to the Kings; previously, he’d sat as a healthy scratch on a few occasions.
A decent two-way checking forward, Chipchura posted a career-high 20 points in 80 games for the Coyotes last year, despite the fact he averaged less than 10 minutes per night.
The decision to place him on waivers is perhaps another nod to GM Don Maloney’s proposed youth movement; last month, the club waived another veteran (defenseman David Schlemko) and has been slowly integrating younger players into the lineup, like Tobias Rieder, Brandon McMillan and Michael Stone.
Chipchura is in the second of a three-year deal that carries an $875,000 cap hit. It stands to reason he could be picked up off waivers from another club, especially given the need for center depth across the NHL.