The Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t find a taker for Jussi Jokinen’s $3 million annual cap hit through the 2013-14 campaign.
The Boston Bruins snatched 24-year-old forward Kaspars Daugavins off of waivers from the Ottawa Senators, but Jokinen went unclaimed, according to TSN and ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.
The fact that Jokinen has cleared underscores how much his stock has fallen. The 29-year-old forward has just 10 points this season and has dropped in the Hurricanes’ depth charts due to the additions of Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin and the rise of Riley Nash.
This is also a bit of a problem for the Hurricanes, who put themselves in a difficult cap position by inking Semin to a five-year, $35 million extension.
The Hurricanes currently have $58,202,500 committed to 17 players in 2013-14, according to Cap Geek, which gives them a little more than $6 million worth of space to round out their roster.
For now, Jokinen is expected to remain on the Hurricanes’ roster rather than be sent to the minors. They might still manage to trade him either before the April 3 deadline or over the summer. If not, they might opt to buy out his contract.
As for Daugavins, the Bruins are getting an inexpensive bottom-six forward who has 14 points in 85 career games. Boston fans probably know him best for his bold shootout attempt against goaltender Tuukka Rask on March 11: