Senators Place Kurtis MacDermid On Waivers

The Senators are opening up a roster spot.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that winger Kurtis MacDermid has been placed on waivers.

The veteran, who has also played defense at times in a pinch, was acquired in a swap of tough guys in the 2025 preseason, with Zack MacEwen going to New Jersey.  However, the change of scenery didn’t result in a whole lot of playing time for the 32-year-old.  He got into just 19 games, notching one assist, 33 penalty minutes, and 18 hits in just 4:12 per game of ice time.  Unsurprisingly, he didn’t see any action in the playoffs.

This season, MacDermid found himself with an injured/non-roster designation to start the season due to an upper-body injury.  Today’s placement indicates that he has recovered from that injury since injured players can’t go through waivers.

MacDermid has 307 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of nine seasons between four different teams.  His best showing offensively came back in 2019-20 with Los Angeles, when he had eight points in 45 games while he was taking a regular shift on the back end.  In recent years, he has almost exclusively played on the fourth line as a pugilist.

The veteran is in the final season of a three-year, one-way contract that carries a $1.15MM cap charge.  If he passes through waivers unclaimed, Ottawa will still be able to clear the full amount off their books, nearly doubling their salary cap flexibility in the process.  Teams will have until 1 PM CT on Sunday to decide if they want to add the gritty winger to the lineup.  Otherwise, MacDermid will be heading for his first AHL stint since the 2018-19 campaign.