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The St. Louis Blues placed veteran forward Scott Gomez on waivers on Tuesday. The 36-year-old center has one of the weirdest careers in recent NHL history. From being one of the best young forwards in the league, to being a total bust, to coming back and finding a place on the first line of a team, and now back to the bottom. This kind of career means he definitely has a place in the NHL, just not with a stacked roster like the Blues.
It seemed like Gomez was an odd fit with the Blues. He just didn’t seem like he really wanted to excel. With the New Jersey Devils last season, he was in the perfect spot. He played with younger players at first, then worked his way up.
Gomez has never been a big point producer. He has one 30-goal season, and then never hit more than 20 in any season of his career. If he gets picked up, he will be on his sixth team in five years. It is the making of the end for most careers, but in today’s NHL Gomez has a place. He is a great team player who could help show a team what it takes to make it in the league. He learned from his many mistakes. A young player could gain a lot from having Gomez on the roster.
The weird thing is Gomez would definitely fit on a young Devils team. He’s also fit on rosters like the Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche or Arizona Coyotes. These teams don’t need skilled forwards, they already have that. They need a player who can teach the young players how to be a professional.
Gomez could ultimately decide to hang his skates up. He hasn’t scored a point since November 12. He has ten shots on the season, and seven assists. He is in a different mindset that might be the only reason he hangs on to what’s left of his career. That mindset is the reason a team should give him a shot. At the end of the day, it wouldn’t cost a team anything to see what he has left.
