Oilers Begin The Process of Buying Out Eric Belanger

As tweeted by Ryan Rishaug this morning the Oilers have placed Eric Belanger on waivers for the purpose of buying him out.

Eric Belanger also on waivers, unconditional, buyout coming

— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) July 4, 2013

Belanger signed with the Oilers as a free agent two years ago but has never come close to living up to expectations. Or really even being a useful NHL player for that matter. In 104 games played over those seasons he managed to score a whopping four goals and added another 15 assists. Hardly the kind of production the Oilers were hoping for when they signed him to a three-year deal worth $5.25M.

Belanger was set to make $1.25M this season - the final year of his deal - meanings the buyout will cost the Oilers $833,333 spread out over the next two seasons. For those who don't want to do the math, that's $416,667 in real dollars this year and next. Being a compliance buyout means that there will be no cap hit associated with this move.

With the compliance buyout deadline set for 5PM EST today and no other news coming out at this time, it would seem that Belanger will be the Oilers only buyout this summer. Shawn Horcoff and Ben Eager survive, for now at least.