Wild place Matt Cooke on waivers for purpose of buyout

The Minnesota Wild began their offseason with a waive.

Forward Matt Cooke has been placed on waivers with a view to having his contract bought out, the club announced Thursday.

"In order to give our team more salary cap flexibility for the upcoming season we needed to make this difficult decision," said general manager Chuck Fletcher. "We thank Matt for his time with the Wild and wish him the best going forward."

The 36-year-old appeared in 29 games for the Wild last season, scoring four goals and adding 6 assists with 13 penalty minutes.

Cooke had one year remaining on his contract, with a cap hit of $2.5 million. Once he clears waivers and is bought out, he will become an unrestricted free agent.