Multiple media outlets are reporting that Montreal Canadiens forward Scott Gomez and New York Rangers defenseman Wade Redden have cleared waivers, making them eligible to have their contracts bought out by their respective teams.
Once that happens, Gomez and Redden will be unrestricted free agents.
Gomez is owed $10 million over the next two seasons and carries a salary-cap hit of nearly $7.5 million. Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin had said the plan was to keep Gomez out of the lineup this season in order to avoid injury and buy out the final season of his deal in the summer of 2013.
Redden also has $10 million and two seasons remaining on a six-year, $39 million contract he signed with the Rangers before the 2008-09 season. The 35-year-old has spent the past two seasons playing for the Connecticut Whale of the AHL.
The NHL and the NHL Players' Association on Tuesday agreed on a change in compliance buyout rules, allowing teams to buy out player contracts prior to Saturday.
In the new Collective Bargaining Agreement agreed to recently by the NHL and the NHLPA, clubs were permitted two "compliance" buyouts to take place during the 2013 and/or 2014 offseasons in order to ease the transition to a lower salary cap.
The new agreement allows teams to use one of those compliance buyouts prior to the start of this season. However, the player's full salary for the 2012-13 season will count against the team's cap.