Coyotes Cut Player Who Posted Video Of Himself With What Appeared To Be Cocaine

If the entire Ja Morant saga wasn't enough for professional athletes to remember to be wary of what they post or stream on social media, here's yet another example and it involves Arizona Coyotes forward Adam Ruzicka.

The team announced that the 24-year-old Slovakian has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Ruzicka was due to become a restricted free agent following this season.

What precipitated this? Well, this announcement came not long after Ruzicka posted a video to his Instagram of what sure looks like a line of cocaine… and then he turned the camera around on himself.

This could go down as a shoo-in to make the Poor Judgment Hall Of Fame.

Mhm. I think that'll be a justified reason for Arizona to free up a little cap space ahead of the trade deadline. Although, as most hockey fans know, the Coyotes aren't usually in much of a salary cap bind.

What's interesting is that Ruzicka hasn't been in the desert for very long. In fact, he only played three games with the club after being claimed off waivers at the end of January. He had previously played for the Calgary Flames, the team that drafted him in 2017.

If that really was cocaine in the video, Ruzicka made one of the worst social media decisions since Morant's gun-flashing spree last year. 

However, it's one of those situations where all you can do is hope that he learns from and gets any help he needs. He's a pretty solid player and posted a pretty respectable 20 points in 44 games last season. That's not exactly setting the world on fire, but a team looking for depth down the middle — especially at an affordable price — could see him as an option.

Of course, that's only if he gets things straightened out off the ice and it's up to him to get his career back on track after this.