Stars make cuts, release Cheechoo, put five on waivers

The Stars today got their roster down to 33 players by making 18 cuts.

They also placed five players on waivers with the thoughts they could assign some of them to the AHL in the next day or two.

In addition, they ended their tryout with former 56-goal scorer Jonathan Cheechoo. The Stars said they had other players pushing for their top spots and wanted to allow Cheechoo the chance to catch on with another team.

Their waiver players are:

Aaron Gagnon, Travis Morin, Francis Wathier, Maxime Fortunus and Brad Lukowich.

Saturday was the first day players could be placed on waivers, and the Stars feel you can slip players through easier if you place them through early in the procee. Any player can be taken by another team, but if they are not placed on that team's NHL roster, they can be reclaimed by the Stars. The Stars do not plan on losing any of them on waivers. They could send some of them to their AHL camp by Tuesday.

Here's are the official assignments:

Assigned to Texas Stars (AHL) Training Camp :

G Richard Bachman

RW Sean Backman

D Jordie Benn

G Tyler Beskorowany

LW Luke Gazdic

C Tristan King

D Trevor Ludwig

LW Scott McCulloch

D Guillaume Monast

LW Michael Neal

C Greg Rallo

C Ondrej Roman

RW Raymond Sawada

RW Colton Sceviour

RW Matt Tassone

C Mathieu Tousignant

Returned to his Junior Team:

D Jace Coyle (Medicine Hat Tigers)

Released From his NHL Try-Out:

RW Jonathan Cheechoo.