Flyers to buy out Umberger's contract

The Philadelphia Flyers will buy out the final season of forward R.J. Umberger's contract, general manager Ron Hextall said during a press conference Thursday.
Hextall said he hoped to have decision finalized by the end of the day. Umberger has a no-movement clause in his contract but Hextall said he believed Umberger would waive it to expedite the buyout process.

"We need [salary cap] space," Hextall said, according to CSNPhilly.com. "We've got guys that are coming up like Ghost [Shayne Gostisbehere] and [Brayden] Schenn and [Radko] Gudas. We need space."
Umberger, 34, had two goals and nine assists in 39 games this season. He was a healthy scratch in 23 of the Flyers' final 24 regular-season games and all six Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He has one season remaining on a five-year contract he signed Sept. 20, 2011, with an average annual value of $4.6 million, according to GeneralFanager.com.

Umberger had said that he was expecting to have his contract bought out.
"Who wouldn't after my season?" he said April 26, according to the Courier-Post. "That's something up to them, their decision. Business side of it, you can't control that."
Umberger spent his first three NHL seasons with the Flyers and was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets after the 2007-08 season. The Blue Jackets traded him back to the Flyers on June 23, 2014, for forward Scott Hartnell.
In the past two seasons Umberger had 11 goals and 26 points in 106 games.
"It hasn't been a great two years," Umberger said. "It's not what I imagined when I came here, but that's life. Last year I was hurt and it was obvious that I was hurt the way I was playing. I felt great coming into the season, high expectations, and I felt my play, when I did play, was better than last year. I just wasn't scoring."
In 11 NHL seasons with the Flyers and Blue Jackets, Umberger has 180 goals and 392 points in 779 games. He scored at least 20 goals five times.