5th year defenseman Darren Dietz(44) goes unqualified for a 2nd time in his pro career as Washington Capitals decide to not re-up after he played 39 AHL games with affiliate Hershey Bears before being involved in a minor league deal that sent him to Texas Stars for the remainder of the calendar.
Originally a Montreal Canadiens‘ 5th round pick in the 2011 draft (#138 overall), the fairly sizable 6’1″ 205 lbs. blue liner played three years in the system and even appear in 113 games with the big club in his third season scoring his first NHL goal and 4 assists but was not retained.
Could be they feared he would get more money than they were willing to offer, so released him.
For 2017/2018, the former Saskatoon Blades‘ d-man, who scored a WHL league leading 24 goals in 2012/2013 agreed to a one-year deal with Barys Astana of the KHL, where he should excel nicely.