Sharks place D McLaren on waivers

Oct 7, 2008 - 10:36 PM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- In a move necessitated by salary cap restrictions, the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday placed veteran defenseman Kyle McLaren on waivers, possibly ending his 4 1/2-year tenure with the club.

Waiving McLaren enabled the Sharks to save $2.5 million and get them under the salary cap limit of $56.7 million.

"Kyle has been a big part of our team over the last several years, but we are blessed with eight defensemen on our roster and these are tough decisions that have to be made," San Jose general manager Doug Wilson said.

The Sharks could still elect to trade McLaren. If he clears waivers and is not traded, he could be assigned to the American Hockey League.

Wilson expects that McLaren, 31, will wind up with another NHL team before too long.

"Kyle is an NHL defenseman," Wilson said. "He deserves to play in this league, and we want to do the right thing for him and us. Other teams are going through the same thing. We're limited to the 23-man roster."

McLaren has played in 302 games with the Sharks since being acquired from Boston midway through the 2002-03 season, recording 12 goals and 71 assists.