Sean Avery left his New York Rangers teammates behind in Sweden on Tuesday night, taking a flight back to North America after being placed on waivers by the team. A few hours later at 12 p.m. ET, he cleared waivers after no NHL team decided to take on his contract and his services. 

Thus, he's still a member of the New York Rangers organization, and now the decision on what's next for Avery hangs in the balance. Coach John Tortorella was pretty clear on Tuesday, saying that Avery doesn't have a place on the roster and that "we have better players than Sean Avery." Yikes.

Hard to imagine Avery will be playing a game for the Rangers again. Per the CBA, the team has up to 30 days to send him down to the AHL if they so choose, and they've shown in the past that they're not afraid to bury salary in the minor leagues. Wade Redden is sad. If they wait longer than those 30 days, Avery would have to clear waivers again. 

We'd have to assume they'll likely send him down. If he's not playing in the NHL, there's no point in still having him around the NHL team. If he does go down, he'll likely stay there since he'd have to clear re-entry waivers on the way back up. 

For more on the Rangers, check in with Blueshirt Banter.