Oilers place Pouliot on waivers for purpose of buyout

The process of clearing cap space for the looming monster contracts of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is well underway.

The Edmonton Oilers have placed forward Benoit Pouliot on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract buyout, the team announced.

Pouliot, 30, tallied just 14 points in 67 games for the Oilers in 2016-17 and comes with a cap hit of $4 million per year over the next two seasons.

It's highly unlikely any team would claim Pouliot on waivers, so the impending buyout will cost the Oilers $1.33 million in cap space per year through the 2020-21 season, per Cap Friendly.

Pouliot, a former fourth overall pick for the Minnesota Wild, scored a career-high 19 goals in 58 games with the Oilers on the first year of his deal. He backed that up with 14 goals in 55 games in 2015-16, but was downright terrible this past year, scoring just eight times in 67 games, and recording more giveaways than takeaways for the first time in his Oilers career.