The St. Louis Blues and the Buffalo Sabres each put a player on NHL waivers on Thursday.
The Blues waived Alexandre Texier, while the Sabres put Mason Geertsen on the wire, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
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Both players can be claimed in the next 24 hours. If no team puts in a claim, they’ll be sent down to their respective AHL clubs.
This is Texier’s second season in St. Louis. He’s made eight appearances this year, recording one assist while averaging a career-low 10:15 of ice time. Last season, he put up six goals and 11 points in 31 contests.
His best season came a year before that, in his last campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played 78 games, recording 12 goals and 30 points and averaging 15:11 of ice time.
Friedman reported that Texier’s waiver assignment isn’t to terminate his contract, “but it’s possible we go down that route if (he’s) not claimed.”
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This would be a similar situation to when center David Kampf and the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed to part ways, with his contract being terminated to pursue another NHL opportunity. He went on to sign with the Vancouver Canucks.
Texier hasn’t played in the AHL since his time with the Cleveland Monsters in 2018-19. He played seven matches and recorded a point per game.
The 26-year-old is in the final year of a two-year contract, earning $2.1 million against the salary cap.
Texier will represent Team France at the 2026 Olympics, as he was named to the team’s preliminary roster.
Mason Geertsen (Gerry Angus-Imagn Images)
Geertsen, meanwhile, has 30 games of NHL experience.
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The 30-year-old defenseman, who has played left wing before, has featured in five games for the Sabres, getting his first taste of NHL action since the 2021-22 season when he played 25 games for the New Jersey Devils.
The frequent fighter hasn’t recorded an NHL point in his career, with a minus-seven rating and 89 penalty minutes.
In the off-season, Geersten signed a two-year contract with Buffalo at $775,000 of average annual value.
Ahead of this season, he spent three straight seasons in the AHL, featuring for the Utica Comets and the Henderson Silver Knights. In that span, he made 150 AHL appearances, registering 10 goals and 19 points.
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During this year’s Hockey Fights Cancer month, the Sabres shared the story of Geertsen’s cancer diagnosis in 2024.
After suffering an injury in a warmup, he went for an MRI on Nov. 27, 2023, when the doctor thought Geertsen could have lymphoma, which can weaken bones. He was eventually sent to a cancer center in California after the season for an extensive biopsy, after which he was diagnosed with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Treatment began in August 2024 and concluded in mid-September, allowing him to make it to the start of camp two days later. He is in remission, and he and his wife, Clarity, launched the Geertsen Opportunity Foundation to help make hockey more accessible and inclusive for youth across Canada and the United States.
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