Blue Jackets place former first round pick on waivers.

A former first round pick of the Vancouver Canucks has landed on waivers at a very interesting time.

According to a report from Cap Friendly, the Columbus Blue Jackets have placed forward Brendan Gaunce on waivers Sunday, doing so for the second time this season. Gaunce has been on the Blue Jackets National Hockey League roster since March but is an integral part of the organization's American Hockey League affiliate squad, the Cleveland Monsters.

The Monsters are currently headed to the Calder Cup's Eastern Conference Final where they will take on the Hershey Bears, and Gaunce will need to clear waivers in order to be eligible to play.

The timing is extremely interesting given that any of the organizations still in the race could in theory have their NHL affiliate submit a claim for Gaunce, but that seems far-fetched. Gaunce would be ineligible to play on any other roster as, like in the NHL, a player must be on a roster prior to the trade deadline in order to be eligible for the playoffs.

When waived earlier this year Gaunce went unclaimed by any of the other teams in the NHL.

Gaunce appeared in 24 NHL games this season scoring 2 goals and adding 2 assists for a total of 4 points, spending the majority of his time with the aforementioned Monsters where he had 19 goals and 20 assists for a total of 39 points in 46 AHL games.

Gaunce will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.