It was announced on Wednesday that forward Chris Stewart has been placed on waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers.
The 32-year-old has suited up in 15 games for the Flyers this season, registering one assist and 21 penalty minutes, his plus/minus rating of -7 is the third worst on the Flyers.
Stewart was a highly ranked junior prospect with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL, and at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, he was selected 18th overall by the Colorado Avalanche. After a mediocre rookie season with the Aves, Stewart broke out in his sophomore season, registering 28 goals and 64 points in 77 games. Stewart wasn't able to continue the success of his sophomore season, he reached the 30-point mark just three more times in his career. Colorado was starting to see the decline in Stewart's game as well, and on Feb. 19, 2011 he, along with Kevin Shattenkirk and a second round pick in 2011 were traded to the St. Louis Blues for Jay McClement, Erik Johnson, and a first round pick in 2011.
He spent the following four seasons with the Blues, with the exception of when he played in the Czech Republic during the 2012 lockout. Once again, he put up some respectable numbers. At the 2014 trade deadline he was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres for William Carrier, Jaroslav Halak, a first rounder in 2015, and a third rounder in 2016 for Steve Ott and Ryan Miller.
Stewart wasn't working out for the Sabres, and at the 2015 trade deadline, Buffalo tradec Stewart to the Minnesota Wild as a rental player for a second round pick in 2017.
In the summer of 2017, Stewart became a free agent and signed a one-year, $1.7 million contract with the Anaheim Ducks. He spent the following season with the Ducks, but as the off-season hit, Anaheim did not extend a qualifying offer, sending Stewart back into free agency.
He returned to Minnesota for the 2016-17 season after signing a two-year deal worth $2.3 million. He put up 21 points in 79 games for the Wild in his first year and got off to a pretty good start in the second year of his contract, but on Feb. 25, 2018 he was placed on waivers by the Wild.
This is where his story starts to get interesting.
He was claimed off waivers by the Calgary Flames two days later, and started his Flames career on the top line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. By the time the game ended, he had been demoted to the fourth line. He finished the 2017-18 campaign with the Flames, but only suited up in seven games and spent most of his time as a healthy scratch.
He did not receive an offer from anyone during the off-season, and on Sept. 28, 2018 it was reported that he had signed with HC Slovan Bratislava of the KHL. The team had held a press conference, but Stewart didn't show up and was declared missing. The day later he was found, it turns out that he never even boarded the plane to go to Russia for the signing and press conference. He then announced that he was retiring from hockey due to family reasons. He stayed in North America and decided to join a men's senior team in Hamilton, Ontario, but he played just one game for them and didn't give up an explanation as to why he quit.
On Jan. 3, 2019 he signed a contract with the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League, he played 23 games with the Panthers, scoring six goals and 13 points. This past summer he signed a PTO with the Flyers, but was released from his tryout on Oct.1. He continued to unofficially skate with the Flyers and was eventually signed to a one-year, $750,000 contract two weeks later on Oct. 15.
In 667 career NHL games he has 160 goals, 322 points, and 750 penalty minutes.
It's unclear what Stewart will do next, maybe he'll join his brother Anthony as an analyst on Sportsnet. No matter what he chooses to do, we wish Chris Stewart all the best moving forward.
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