The Buffalo Sabres have placed suspended forward Patrik Berglund on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract.
The team declined further comment in announcing the move Wednesday. Berglund was suspended by the Sabres on Saturday for failing to report to the team for its road game at Washington.
He missed the team’s last five games, including two last week when coach Phil Housley said Berglund was sidelined by an illness.
Berglund’s agent, Peter Wallen, has not responded to several messages seeking comment.
The 30-year-old Swede has two goals and two assists in 23 games. Buffalo acquired Berglund in July as part of a four-player trade that sent center Ryan O’Reilly to the Blues.
Berglund, who played the first 10 seasons of his career with St. Louis, has three years remaining on his contract at an annual salary-cap hit of $3.85 million.
With 108 days remaining on the season, Berglund was due to be paid $2,729,032. Combined with the three remaining years on the contract, he walks away from $12,579,032, according to CapFriendly.
Berglund has 170 goals and 156 assists for 326 points in 717 regular-season games with the Blues and Sabres.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.