Texas Stars defensemen Patrik Nemeth and Jamie Oleksiak earned a hard-fought victory in the Calder Cup Finals last night, and several thousand miles away this afternoon, they got a step closer to regular NHL roster spots. Not a bad 24 hours.
It was reported by Mike Heika yesterday and it became official today- Aaron Rome was indeed the recipient of a compliance buyout from the Dallas Stars.
That ends a two-season stint for Rome in which he appeared just 52 times, earning six points and seemingly just as many injuries.
The vacancy opens up valuable real estate for young d-men in the Stars’ system like Oleksiak, Nemeth, and John Klingberg.
Here’s the release, in case you missed it:
FRISCO, Texas – Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today the club used a compliance buyout, as allowed by the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, on defenseman Aaron Rome. Rome had one year remaining on his current, three-year contract with Dallas.
Rome, 30, earned one assist in 25 games with Dallas during the 2013-14 regular season, and appeared in one postseason contest with the club. He also recorded one assist in eight regular season contests with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League. In his two seasons with Dallas, the Nesbitt, Manitoba native earned six points, all assists, in 52 regular-season contests.
Rome has tallied 28 career points (6-22=28) in 226 regular-season games with Anaheim, Columbus, Vancouver and Dallas. Originally selected by Los Angeles in the fourth round (104th overall) of the 2002 NHL Draft, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound defenseman was signed by Dallas as a free agent on July 1, 2012.
Also around the league…
Canucks buy out David Booth
David Booth is an odd duck- He began in Florida with the Panthers and his pursuits bore eery similarities to Loui Eriksson’s in Dallas in games played and points scored, then finally contract extensions that were nearly identitical.
He too was traded. He too suffered consussion problems. Now he’s being bought out- Not that Loui will any time soon. That’s where the similarities end.
From Puck Daddy…
Therein lay the problem with Booth. He was, as John Tortorella and others put it, a truly weird dude, and that would have been fine if he had also been a productive one. But thanks to injuries and inconsistent play, Booth never even came close to living up to his $4.5M annual cap hit, so he just became a source of annoyance for Vancouver fans. [Puck Daddy]
Ville Leino to be bought out
John Vogl of the Buffalo News reports that Leino will be bought out as a compliance buyout, not a regular, which would help the Sabres get from $39 million to the $52 million cap-floor- So it seems the Sabres will be in a spending mood come July 1st. Because they have to be.
Leino’s star crashed along with the Sabres after reckless spending marked the beginning of new owner Terry Pegula’s tenure.
Thank goodness for Jim Nill and Tom Gaglardi, who appear to be steering well clear of that kind of abhorent mess.