New York Islanders Place Forward On Waivers

The New York Islanders have made a roster move, as they have placed forward Julien Gauthier on waivers.

Gauthier, 26, was benched in his last appearance for the Islanders during their contest against the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 25. From there, he was scratched against the Florida Panthers, and now, he is available for the taking on the waiver wire.

Gauthier was a depth signing for the Islanders during the offseason, and he has gotten into a decent amount of action with the NHL club since. In 27 games this season with the Islanders, he has five goals, four assists, and a minus-5 rating. However, he has been ice-cold as of late, as he has zero points over his last five games. With that, he also has just one goal and a minus-6 rating in his last 10 contests.

Teams in need of some forward depth could consider taking a flier on Gauthier. The 6-foot-4 winger carries an easily affordable $787,500 cap hit. However, he is also under contract until the end of next season, so teams would need to be okay with having him on the books past this campaign.

In 180 career NHL games split between the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and Islanders, he has 19 goals to go along with 41 points. We will need to wait and see if he gets the chance to improve upon these career NHL stats by getting claimed by a new from here. If not, he will be heading to the AHL.