
The revolving door that is the Tampa Bay Lightning organization took a few more turns on Monday, as they placed forwards
Radim Vrbata and
Chris Gratton on waivers,
as reported by TSN. Once Vrbata clears waivers, he's going back to the Czech Republic for the remainder of this season, supposedly, because he's lost confidence playing in the NHL this season.
From Bob McKenzie:
"Radim is a great guy and he came into our office on Sunday morning and just told us his confidence is low and he would like to head home to the Czech Republic to finish the season," Lightning owner Oren Koules told TSN. "He just wants to take the rest of the year off (from the NHL) and try to get his game back over there. If he wants to come back next season, great. That's his call. This is all very amicable. He's a great guy who's really struggling right now."
Vrbata was part of Tampa Bay's summer of spending, inking a three-year, $9 million deal after a career year with the Coyotes a season ago. He scored 27 goals for Phoenix, but hit a wall in the final two months, not scoring over the final 22 games of the season. He had three goals for the Lightning in 18 games this season.