Devils’ d-man Vishnevski off to Russia

August 24, 2008   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

With eight defensemen on the roster and highly touted Matthew Corrente also competing for a spot in camp, something eventually had to give.  Finally it did, when hard-hitting Vitaly Vishnevski was placed on waivers.  After Vishnevski cleared waivers, GM Lou Lamoriello announced that the 28-year old defenseman would be playing in Russia this season. 

According to Tom Gulutti’s Fire and Ice blog, the departure was not acrimonious.  “He expressed a desire to go back to Russia for personal reasons and I respect that,” Lamoriello said. “We didn’t want this to develop into a situation September, so we placed him on waivers now and this will allow him to go play there.”

The Devils will be getting cap relief from Vishnevski’s contract, and also retain his NHL rights.  There was no immediate word on whether he would be paid the $3.6 million remaining on his deal, but hey so long as his money’s off the cap that’s management’s problem, right?

Vishnevkski followed in the footsteps of Karel Rachunek and Sergei Brylin, Devils last season now playing overseas.  Without Vishnevski the Devils’ defensive core looks like this:

Paul Martin – Bryce Salvador

Colin White – Johnny Oduya

Mike Mottau – Andy Greene

Sheldon Brookbank – Matthew Corrente