Lightning terminate contract of defenseman Lukas Krajicek

Posted Jan 30, 2010 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Jan 30, 2010 at 02:25 PM

The contract of defenseman Lukas Krajicek has officially been terminated by the Lightning, which makes Krajicek an immediate unrestricted free agent and eligible to sign with any team, whether it’s in the NHL or in Europe/Russia.

Krajicek, who was signed to a one-year deal worth $1.475 million on July 2, cleared regular waivers in December and was assigned to Norfolk of the American Hockey League just before Christmas. He had been playing with the Admirals until earlier this week when he packed his bags and left the team while in Hartford. Once he left the team - which did not happen out of the blue - the team informed his agent that if he did not return to the team he would be in violation of his contract and subject to having the remainder of his deal terminated. (Again, this did not just happen out of the blue).

On Friday, Krajicek was placed on unconditional waivers, the first step in the process of ending his contract. On Saturday, he cleared unconditional waivers and essentially became an unrestricted free agent. Word is that Krajicek could surface again back in the NHL sooner rather than later, with Philadelphia a logical destination. The Flyers have been on the lookout for a defenseman after Ryan Parent went down for six weeks due to back surgery, but Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren has been unable to find one via trade to this point. It just makes sends that Krajicek might find his way to the Flyers to finish the remainder of the season, which basically saves Tampa Bay about $600,000 due on Krajicek’s contract.