Adam Ruzicka is set to become a former member of the Arizona Coyotes today, 24 hours after being placed on unconditional waivers by the team for the purpose of terminating his contract. Some believe Ruzicka is getting exactly what he deserves after what happened, but one insider disagrees.
The Coyotes announced they were getting rid of Adam Ruzicka yesterday after a video surfaced online that Ruzicka had posted to Instagram and then deleted. It showed him with a container in his mouth that was full of a white substance. While it has never been stated publicly by anyone that the substance was something illegal, the optics were not good, to put it mildly. However, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff seems to believe the Coyotes were hasty with their decision, and Ruzicka should be heading to an assistance program before any decision on his contract was made.
When Evgeni Kuznetzov was suspended by the NHL after testing positive for banned substances at the World Championships, he went through the NHLPA assistance program and returned to the Washington Capitals. Ruzicka was never given that opportunity by Arizona. We've been left with nothing but speculation as to why without an official explanation from the league and the teams involved.
