Thomas Vanek is headed to free agency.
The Minnesota Wild bought out the final year of his contract on Friday, the club announced.
"In order to give our team more salary cap flexibility we needed to make this difficult decision," general manager Chuck Fletcher said. "We thank Thomas for his time with the Minnesota Wild and wish him the best going forward."
The buyout frees up $5 million in cap space for the 2016-17 season, while costing the Wild $2.5 million against the cap in 2017-18.
"It was a dream of mine to come back to the State of Hockey (where he played in college) and I got to fulfill that, but obviously not the way I hoped," Vanek told Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "I think I can score 25, 30 goals in the right situation. As disappointing as it is ... the focus is to find the right fit."
Vanek, who signed a three-year, $19.5-million contract with the Wild in 2014, is coming off one of the worst statistical seasons of his career, recording 18 goals and 23 assists in 74 games.
He'll be able to sign with any of the NHL's 29 other teams come July 1.
