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Buying Out Horcoff: There's Still Time! |
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Bob McKenzie posted on Twitter that teams have until tomorrow to declare buyouts of players who have no movement clauses. Does this mean the Oilers still have a day to rid themselves of Shawn Horcoff? I hope so.
As far as I know, Horcoff has a No Trade Clause, not a No Movement Clause, as of July 1. This means he can be sent to the minors, so it also means he can be placed on waivers...which means, the Oilers would have had to place him on waivers today in order to buy him out with a compliance buyout tomorrow. I think.
I'm not even sure the GMs themselves understand all the rules in the new CBA. That thing is 500 pages, you know?
It appears to the naked eye...hell, to eyes not completely naked, too...that Oilers management is doing absolutely nothing right now. No Horcoff buyout is one thing...but there's also been no UFA noise whatsoever, no Sam Gagner or Magnus Paajarvi contracts, no attempts we know of to re-sign Ryan Jones, no trades, etc.
One could get the feeling that July 5 is going to come and go without incident and the Oilers are going to, once again, miss the boat like they did at the draft. Obviously if there was a deal out there for Shawn Horcoff, it would have happened already.
Horcoff, under his limited NTC, needed to name 10 teams he was willing to go to. Rumor is, he wanted to force the Oilers into buying him out, so then he could re-sign for way less money with a team of his choosing. His agent has ties with Los Angeles and Pittsburgh...I can't see the Penguins having any financial ability to add Horcoff regardless what his contract looks like, but the Kings is a definite possibility, especially now considering potential serious health issues for Jarret Stoll. Rumor is Horcoff also was interested in returning to Michigan, this time to play for Detroit. Keep in mind where Horcoff played NCAA hockey.
The Horcoff camp, I believe, offered up a ridiculous list of ten teams in an effort to force a buyout: Kings, Penguins, Flyers (of course), Wings, Hawks, Canucks, Rangers, Bruins, Sharks and Wild. All teams that have little to no ability to add Horcoff with his $5.5mil cap hit. And with this cap hit and list of teams, the Oilers are trapped, completely unable to deal him. For a player wanting a compliance buyout, this is a tremendous market condition, if it doesn't backfire.
But it might.
Now that he's under a NTC instead of a NMC, Oilers management could send him to the minors. Perhaps this still means they get to live with his cap hit, and still get to pay him $7mil over the next two seasons, but at least they'd be teaching him a lesson not to poke the bear.
I get an awesome, amazing laugh at people suggesting Horcoff can return to the Oilers and can play for them, with everything being okay. If people realize the cosmic game of checkers being played, and how the Horcoff camp is trying to bully the result they want, they wouldn't want this guy playing for them ever again.
I keep hoping for a compliance buyout.
Yes, it's letting the player and his agent win. At least it would bring this sad chapter in Oilers history to a close. Why is that important? Did you watch the Canucks last season? The Roberto Luongo situation was a distraction to the entire team all year long. I don't want a repeat in Edmonton.
Oilers management say they are serious about improving this season. So prove it. Get rid of the distraction now, when you can. Bite the bullet and swallow the loss of $4.7mil (the amount needed to buy Horcoff out). Yes, this means the Oilers will get nothing in return for Horcoff in a deal. Quit fooling yourselves. There is no deal to be made. Sometimes, a poker player needs to know when it's time to walk away from the table. Now's the time. For the sake of the team in a few months, now is the time.
That is, of course, if management haven't blown it already by waiting too long.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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