Avery Waived by Rangers

The Rangers career of Sean Avery has been colorful (and more than occasionally, off-color), controversial and confounding to both his coaches and many of his opponents, whom he has managed to goad into losing their composure. It has never, however, matched the promise of his first weeks with the Rangers, when he arrived at the trade deadline in 2007 and helped catapult an underachieving team to a scintillating playoff run.

So when Avery’s agent, Pat Morris, confirmed the Rangers were placing him on waivers Tuesday afternoon, it came as no great surprise. He had never worked his way into the heart of Rangers Coach John Tortorella, who seemed at best to tolerate Avery and all that came with him. And by the time the Rangers made him a healthy scratch for two preseason games in Europe, it seemed the end had finally arrived.

The Rangers have not yet announced the move.

Should Avery, 31, not be claimed by another team on waivers, the Rangers will send him to their American League team in Hartford to minimize his salary cap impact. They are already only on the hook for half his $4 million salary, having claimed him on re-entry waivers from the Dallas Stars after his disastrous tenure there in 2008-09. No matter where Avery goes, the Stars have to pay him $2 million this season.

Avery’s high-water mark as an N.H.L. player came in his first days as Ranger, when he scored eight goals and had 12 assists in 29 games after the trade deadline, when the Rangers made up a huge gap in the standing to make the playoffs. In 2007-08, he was somewhat less effective, but still enough of a pest to make himself valuable and had one of his most memorable moments in the playoffs with a power play goal against the Devils. To distract Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, Avery waved his stick and arms in front of Brodeur and when a shot got through, Avery put in the rebound for a goal. The N.H.L. then announced such a move would be penalized as goalie interference in the future.

Avery never had as big an impact after returning to the Rangers in 2009. Playing a diminishing role in Tortorella’s rotation, Avery had just 24 points in 76 games last season.

This summer, Avery taped a video supporting the push for same-sex marriage in New York. This became on-ice news when Avery claimed Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds called him an anti-gay slur during a preseason game. Simmonds was not punished by the N.H.L. despite the slur being captured on video.

Later, Tortorella indicated Avery was fighting for the 13th forward spot on the team with Erik Christensen.

Teams have 24 hours to claim players placed on waivers.