Oilers place Mark Fayne and his $14.5 million contract on waivers

When Mark Fayne signed with the Edmonton Oilers on July 1, 2014, he was one of two signings that day that were applauded by the analytics community.

Fayne inked a four-year, $14.5 million deal, while Benoit Pouliot signed for $20 million over five years. A little over a year later, Fayne has been waived by the Oilers.

The team announced the decision on Wednesday, waiving the 28-year old defenseman with the intention of sending him to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield where he’d join fellow exiled blue liner Nikita Nikitin and netminder Ben Scrivens. That’s $7.575 million in buried cap hit the Oilers have down on the farm should Fayne clear, per General Fanager. (Fayne is signed through 2018.)

Fayne has never been one to be relied upon for offense. His career high in points in 17, which he set in his second season in the NHL in 2011-12.

According to War on Ice, Fayne’s PDO over the last three seasons have averaged to be 96.7-percent, showing he’s been on the wrong side of luck since 2013-14. But this is another move by new Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli to tried and rid his roster of Craig MacTavish’s pricey signings.

Even if Fayne clears, Chiarelli has made it known that the defenseman is available and maybe a team needing some depth on the blue line might come calling, as long as Edmonton wants to pick up part of the tab, of course.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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