Regardless of whether or not he's a "good guy," he hadn't scored a goal in a little more than a year. And if Gomez is your highest paid player, with results like that, doesn't it seem like a no-brainer to buy him out?
Maybe it's because I'm 14 and I started following the Devils at about the same time Gomez left. But if I'm the GM for this team, in a huge hockey market whose fans hate when their team misses the playoffs, then it makes logical sense for me to send him off for this season and work with the rest of the team to play some clutch, playoff hockey. And in a French-Canadian accent!