The Coyotes fired center Adam Ruzicka hours after a video was posted on social media showing the NHL player in a room with a white powdery substance.
The video, which was said to have been posted to Ruzicka’s Instagram Story, appears to show an American Express credit card on a plate and a line from it.
“The Arizona Coyotes have placed forward Adam Ruzicka on unconditional waivers for purposes of contract termination,” the Coyotes said in a statement. “The club has no further comment at this time.”
At the end of the video, a person believed to be Ruzicka had what appeared to be a vial in his mouth.
The newspaper has contacted his agent, Newports Sports Management, for comment.
Ruzicka has appeared in three games for the Coyotes this season.
He was picked up by Phoenix last month after being waived by the Flames, the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
The 24-year-old Slovakian has three goals and nine points in the season split between the two teams.
He is in the second year of a two-year, $1.525 million contract with the Flames.
Ruzicka becomes the second player in the league to have his contract terminated this season, joining Corey Perry of the Chicago Blackhawks, after the veteran winger violated the team’s workplace policy.
The NHL Players Association asked for an extension of time for Perry to file a grievance, which was granted, and Perry will now play in Edmonton.
There is precedent for the NHL punishing players for off-ice behavior like Ruzicka’s.
Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov missed three games in 2019 for “inappropriate conduct,” less than a month after receiving a four-year ban from playing for Russia after testing positive for cocaine. He was suspended.
Kuznetsov faced drug use allegations at that year’s World Championships after a video of Kuznetsov near a table lined with white powder and US dollar bills was posted on social media.
— with AP
