Pittsburgh Penguins waive slumping 39-year-old veteran Mark Recchi

 

PITTSBURGH (AP) -Mark Recchi’s third stay with the Pittsburgh Penguins is apparently over.
Recchi, who played on the Penguins’ first Stanley Cup-winning team in 1991 and rejoined them in 2004 and 2006, was placed on waivers Tuesday and is eligible to be claimed by any NHL team.
A day after he was scratched for a sixth consecutive game, Recchi did not accompany the Penguins to Edmonton for the start of a weeklong road trip.
If the 39-year-old right wing is not claimed, the Penguins are expected to negotiate a buyout of his $1.75 million contract.
Recchi, who has never gotten going offensively this season, has been scratched for seven of the last eight games. He has two goals and six assists in 19 games with a minus-two rating. He has only one goal since the Penguins’ season opener.
Even if Recchi does not play for them again, the Penguins want to avoid the messy separation they had with veteran forward John LeClair a season ago. LeClair was waived, declined an assignment to the minors and was eligible for suspension until, after a two-week process, the two sides worked out a contract settlement.
Recchi, who lives in Pittsburgh during the offseason, re-signed with the Penguins before the 2004-05 lockout season. He had 24 goals in 63 Penguins games during the 2005-06 season before being dealt to Carolina, where he had four goals in 20 games while helping the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup.
He signed again with the Penguins last year and played well for most of the season, scoring 22 goals in their first 59 games. But he slumped down the stretch, getting only two goals in his final 23 games and none in five playoff games.
Despite that late-season slump, the Penguins chose to bring back both Recchi and 41-year-old forward Gary Roberts to a mostly young team that seemed primed to be a Stanley Cup contender this season.
Roberts, who had seven goals and six assists in only 19 games with Pittsburgh last season, has also slumped much of this season and has one goal and 10 assists in 25 games.
Recchi was waived only a day after the Penguins recognized his 500th goal, scored last season, with a bobblehead doll giveaway at their Monday night home game against Phoenix. Recchi has 510 goals in 1,357 NHL games with the Penguins, Flyers, Canadiens and Hurricanes.