The #1 question any team should ask about any player:
Does this guy add an overall positive value to our hockey club?Ray Emery, despite all of his latent and natural talent, has far more minuses than pluses, and he was far too much of a poison for the Ottawa Senators to keep around.
The Sens wanted to trade the guy as far back as April, but it appears nobody took the apple from the tree of knowledge. Thus, the Sens finally just decided to cut "Sugar Ray" out for good, putting him on waivers with the intention of buying him out.
In the wake of several incidents involving both the team and member of the public over the past couple of seasons, Emery has been served with a buyout notice by the club and has been placed on NHL waivers.
If nobody decides to pick up the 25-year-old, then Emery will be bought out for one third of the remaining $6.75 million on his contract_ or approximately $2.25 million. Emery has two years left on the deal. He would then become a free agent and although several teams have expressed an interest in Emery, it's unlikely he would be able to sign anything but a two-way deal -- which would pay him considerably less were he not to stay on an NHL roster.
Some players, such as Dominik Hasek or Ed Belfour, have been able to get away with being Bad Boys because their level of player was so far above average. Emery? His play deteriorated to the point where he finished second last in the league with a paltry 89.0% save percentage. It's pretty easy to cut a guy who isn't performing.
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If I was running an NHL club, I'd stay the hell away from the guy, even if he has loads of untapped talent. What coach wants to take on a guy that shows up late for practices, can't control his emotions, goes clubbing all the time, and creates a bad atmosphere in the dressing room?
Perhaps Ted Nolan and the New York Islanders? Then again, Nolan's past experience with Dominik Hasek might scare him off.
