Edmonton Oilers placing forward on waivers for contract termination

Swedish sources reported yesterday that Tomasek was expected to terminate his NHL contract and sign with his former team back in the SHL immediately. After Tomasek had barely been in the lineup recently, it's not a surprising decision.

Tomasek will hit NHL waivers today at noon, giving every team in the league to claim him. If he clears waivers as expected, the Oilers will terminate his contract.

The contract termination feels like a mutual decision, which will erase Tomasek's $1.2M contract from the Oilers salary cap this year. If his decision is to return home to play in the SHL this season, that's the likely path forward.

Tomasek himself doesn't seem to be expected a team to claim him, as he was spotted at the Edmonton airport with his gear on Christmas morning.

Though he only scored 3 goals and 5 points in 22 games with the Oilers, it's somewhat surprising to see no other NHL team was willing to take a flyer on him.

Early this season, Tomasek played with McDavid and Draisaitl and was constantly generating scoring chances - but just didn't have the finish. He was quickly demoted down the lineup, where his weak defensive play made him less of a fit for the Coach. For him, playing in the SHL would be better than the AHL, or not playing at all.

At the end of the day, Tomasek's $1.2M cap hit may be the factor preventing him from another NHL chance. A team may take him on at league minimum salary, but at a price point above their own tweeners - he's just not worth the risk.

We'll see how the official waivers decision plays out tomorrow, but it looks like it was partially Tomasek's decision to end his NHL experiment, and return to Europe.