Perhaps the decision that will have the most immediate impact on the futures of the 30 NHL teams next month will not be who they select with their first round pick at Newark’s Prudential Center on June 30, but who each general manager choose to buy out in the days before the draft. The buyout will open up salary cap room for teams to sign free agents or to make needed trades and will also erase some notable mistakes with the swipe of a pen and the cutting of a rather large check.
With the exception of the Rangers and Canadiens, every team has two compliance buyouts available to be used over the next two summers. New York and Montreal used one of theirs on 2008 free agent busts Wade Redden and Scott Gomez, who proved that they can still play in the NHL, just not at the overinflated salary that Rangers GM Glen Sather signed both to.
Comcast’s Sarah Baicker wrote a quick reference guide of how the buyouts will work earlier this month.
a)If a player is being bought out using the new compliance buyouts issued as part of the CBA , his salary will not count against his team’s cap, unlike the buyouts done previously(ex.Darcy Tucker and Colby Armstrong’s buyout equaled 2/3rd’s of the remaining salary, divided equally over double the length of the years remaining on their contracts at the time of the buyout.
b) Players bought out who are under the age of 26 will receive 1/3rd of their remaining salary, whereas players over 26 years old will receive 2/3rd’s of their salary.
c) Teams cannot use the buyout as an end around towards renegotiating current player contracts. Teams buying out a player cannot re-sign a player for one season. So Tampa cannot buyout the remaining seven years of Vincent Lecavalier’s contract and bring him back at a reduced salary.
The Leafs have a fairly easy decision on one of their buyouts, as they will free themselves of the last year of defenseman Mike Komisarek’s five year, $22.5 Million deal, but will have to decide if they want to bite the bullet on the recently signed Mikhail Grabovski or defenseman John-Michael Liles, who both have significant term left on their contracts.
Here are some of the candidates for buyouts on the other teams:
Northeast Division
Montreal Canadiens – Tomas Kaberle: Cap Hit - $4.25 Million till 2013-14
Habs GM Marc Bergevin’s decision is pretty much a no-brainer, as the former Leafs All-Star blueliner was placed on waivers in late March after playing only 10 regular season games and did not dress at all during the playoffs.
Boston Bruins – None
The Bruins have no glaring bad contracts on their roster. All the players making significant salary are producing. There might have been a glimmer of consideration for possibly buying out Milan Lucic coming off a bad regular season and entering the first year of a three year, $18 Million contract extension, but his dominance as a power forward has returned in the playoffs. There is no reason to buyout the remaining four years of center Marc Savard, as his $4 Million salary is off the books due to the LTIR exemption.
Buffalo Sabres – Ville Leino : Cap Hit - $4.5 Million till 2016-17, Drew Stafford - $4 Million till 2014-15
The products of owner Terry Pegula’s influx of cash two years ago again showed terrible results. Leino played only eight games during the regular season with leg and upper body injuries, while Stafford scored a career-low six goals and 12 assists. Both players are prime candidates for the buyout option, but if the Sabres embark on a full rebuild and trade goalie Ryan Miller and winger Thomas Vanek, they may retain both Leino and Stafford to stay over the salary cap floor.
Ottawa Senators – Milan Michalek : Cap Hit - $4.33 Million till 2013-14
The Senators are fortunate to not have many bad deals in need of being expunged. The talented Michalek had a career worst four goals and 14 points in 23 games in 2013, after a career best 35 goals in 2011-12 and four 20+ goals seasons in San Jose, but a series of knee injuries has kept him out of the lineup for 57 games over the last three seasons.
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Atlantic Division
Philadelphia Flyers – Ilya Bryzgalov : Cap Hit - $5.66 Million till 2020, Danny Briere - $6.5 Million till 2014-15
After a debut year that was tumultuous to say the least, Mr. Universe was at the center of the Flyers disappointing 2013 season, as all of his numbers went down considerably. Bryzgalov finished only two games over .500(19-17-3) after going 33-16-7 in 2011-12, his save percentage declined from .909 to .900 and his GAA soared from 2.48 to 2.79. Add that to the critical comments about the Philadelphia media and the writing is written on the wall in indelible ink.
The years have taken their toll on the very popular 35 year old Briere and it does not look like he has much left. He missed 14 games with wrist and concussion issues and scored just six goals in 34 games.
New York Rangers – Brad Richards : $6.66 Million till 2019-20
It would be stunning if the talk of buying out Richards comes true. The possibility was mentioned in Larry Brook’s column in the New York Post during the season and has again gained steam with his disappearing act and benching in the post-season. There could be an unknown injury that has yet to be revealed, but if the 33 year old center has hit the proverbial wall, a buyout would cost the Rangers $24 Million.
New York Islanders – Rick DiPietro : $4.5 Million till 2020-21
The career of the former #1 overall pick appears to be at an end, as he played only three games with the Islanders before being waived and demoted to Bridgeport of the AHL. Similar to Buffalo’s situation, the only reason for not buying out DiPietro’s remaining eight years would be to keep the Islanders over the cap floor, but with a taste of playoff success in 2013 and the prospect of moving to Brooklyn in the next few years, GM Garth Snow will likely want to use the freed up cap room to sign a player or two that can actually help his team on the ice.
New Jersey Devils – Anton Volchenkov : $4.25 Million till 2015-16, Henrik Tallinder - $3.375 Million till 2013-14
Volchenkov is a tough, shot-blocking blueliner but his numbers and intangibles do not merit the six year, $25.5 Million free agent contract that New Jersey signed him to in 2010. At age 31, he might be able to be traded to a contending team in need of a shutdown defenseman, but the Devils appear to be a team on the verge of a massive rebuild. The same goes for the 34 year old Tallinder, who scored only four points and played just 25 games for the Devils.
Pittsburgh Penguins – Jussi Jokinen - $3 Million till 2013-14, Marc-Andre Fleury - $5 Million till 2014-15
Jokinen rebounded from a bad season with Carolina after being traded to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, scoring 7 goals in 10 games, but the Penguins may choose to allocate the $3 Million he is scheduled to make in 2013-14 towards re-signing UFA’s Jarome Iginla, Matt Cooke, Douglas Murray and/or Pascal Dupuis.
With every game veteran Tomas Vokoun wins in the playoffs, the greater the chance becomes that Fleury is either bought out or traded before next season. Fleury still has value and could still rebound but may need a change of scenery. With veteran goalies like Ryan Miller, Mike Smith and Roberto Luongo possibly available, Pens GM Ray Shero may think it is time to make a change between the pipes.
Sunday – The Southeast and Central Division
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