Red Wings Waive Former Spartan Abdelkader

The Detroit Red Wings have waived former Michigan State Spartan Justin Abdelkader (pictured, #8), according to MLive's Ansar Khan on Tuesday.

Here's Khan's tweet:

Abdelkader was owed more than $5 million per season for the next three years.  But he has struggled in recent seasons and failed to score a goal this past season (only three assists in 49 games played).

Capfriendly.com says that the buyout for Justin would be for the next six seasons at a total of just over $9.5 million.  In the NHL, teams don't have to pay the full amount if they have/want to buy a player out.

Justin scored the game-winning goal for Michigan State in the 2007 National Championship game against Boston College, and went right to the Red Wings after that game.  He was the team's second-round pick in 2005.