Scott Gomez was an unwanted man in Montreal, but the Sharks think he has something left. (Paul Chiasson/AP)

By Allan Muir

After taking him out for a week-long test drive, the Sharks finally made it official and signed center Scott Gomez to a one-year deal for a pro-rated portion of $700,000.

It’s a spare change investment for the Sharks, who pick up the former All-Star on the rebound from his buyout agreement with the Canadiens. If Gomez, who spent part of the lockout with the ECHL Alaska Aces, has as little to offer as he displayed over the past two seasons in Montreal, he’s easy enough to bury.

But the Sharks obviously believe the 33-year-old center still has something significant to offer.

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Scott Gomez (center) and Wade Redden (6) are now paying for Rangers GM Glen Sather’s mistakes. (Seth Wenig/AP)

By Stu Hackel

The new CBA, the result of a bitter struggle between the owners and players, has begun claiming victims. Wade Redden and Scott Gomez, a pair of conspicuously poor free agent signings by Rangers GM Glen Sather, find themselves being paid not to play during this upcoming shortened season.

UPDATE: NHL, NHLPA come to agreement on Gomez and Redden allowing them to potentially play this season.

Both have been told to go home, Redden by Sather, who last week reportedly allowed Redden’s agent to try engineering a trade to another club, and Gomez on Sunday by new Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, who inherited the veteran center via the lopsided trade Sather made with Bob Gainey in 2009, one that sent rising star defenseman Ryan McDonagh’s rights to New York.

Gomez and Redden will be bought out next summer for two-thirds of the remaining value on their contracts when the CBA permits two buyouts per club that won’t count against the salary cap. With the cap going down next year, space is needed and overpaid underachievers are most vulnerable.

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