Lightning place Conor Sheary on waivers to terminate contract. Veleno also on waivers by Kraken

By Canadian Press on June 29, 2025.

The Tampa Bay Lightning placed forward Conor Sheary on unconditional waivers on Sunday for the purpose to terminate his contract.

The 10-year veteran was limited to playing just five games with the Lightning, and spent a majority of last season in the minors because of the team’s salary cap constraints. The 33-year-old Sheary had one more year left on his three-year contract, and was due to make $2 million next season.

Sheary won Stanley Cups during each of his first two NHL seasons with Pittsburgh in 2016 and ’17. He signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent two years ago, and finished with four goals and 15 points in 62 games with the Lightning.

He also played for Buffalo and Washington, and has 124 goals and 267 points in 593 games.

Should he go unclaimed, Sheary will become an unrestricted free agent, with the NHL’s signing period opening on Tuesday.

The Seattle Kraken placed forward Joe Veleno on unconditional waivers for the purpose to buy out the final year of his contract, in which he was due to make $2.275 million.

Veleno has five seasons of NHL experience and was acquired by Seattle last week in a trade that sent forward Andre Burakovsky to Chicago. The 25-year-old Veleno spent his first four-plus NHL seasons in Detroit, and has 38 goals and 81 points in 306 games.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

John Wawrow, The Associated Press