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One of the first pieces of hockey-related news to come out after the NHL lockout was lifted was the Montreal Canadiens decision to basically tell Scott Gomez to stay home, collect his money, and patiently wait to be bought out after the season.
On Monday, sports lawyer Eric Macramalla analyzed whether or not their decision could be grounds for a grievance from the NHLPA.
As it turns out the players association has, in fact, contacted the NHL on the matter according to Renaud Lavoie of RDS and the Globe and Mail (the Globe also adds that the union is asking about a similar situation taking place in New York involving the Rangers and defenseman Wade Redden).
When the amnesty buyouts were put into the new CBA it was pretty much assumed that Gomez would be one of the first players on the list given the size of his contract (a $7 million cap hit this season and next season) and declining production.
The reason for keeping him away from the rink is simple: The Canadiens want to buy him out to avoid the cap hit next season (and they desperately need the cap space) but don't want him to get injured before then because injured players can not be bought out.
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