Ducks place Rene Bourque on waivers, wait for Tomas Fleischmann

Rene Bourque knew his days as a Duck might be numbered after the club loaded up on left wings the past week by acquiring Tomas Fleischmann from Florida and Jiri Sekac from Montreal. On Sunday, Bourque was placed on waivers, a decision the 33-year-old left wing was informed of shortly before he participated in the team’s morning skate at American Airlines Center.

It’s likely he will clear waivers because he has a year left on his contract with a $2.5-million cap hit. Acquired from Montreal for defenseman Bryan Allen in November, Bourque got a chance on the top line but didn’t produce. In 30 games with the Ducks he had two goals and eight points and was -4 defensively. For the season he has two goals and 10 points and a -13 defensive rating in 43 games.

Bourque said he has no idea what his immediate future holds. “I just found out right before I went on the ice,” he said Sunday. “It is what it is. It’s not fun. It’s been a tough year but it’s out of my hands.

“Whatever happens, happens. I’d like to stay here but obviously there’s a numbers issue right now. When you’re in my situation, not playing lots, any time you get a roster player it’s tough. They’re not going to bring him in here to sit, so the writing’s on the wall.”

Bourque said it was difficult to be consistent when he was in and out of the lineup. “It’s been a tough year,” he said.

Fleischmann’s flight to Dallas on Saturday was canceled because of bad weather in the Dallas area. He was expected to arrive at mid-afternoon.

In another personnel move, the Ducks returned center Chris Wagner to Norfolk (Va.) of the American Hockey League. That cleared the way for center Nate Thompson to return after missing two games because of a lower-body injury.

We’ll have more from Dallas in a little while.

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