Flyers and Compliance Buyouts
There is still confusion among some fans as to how compliance buyouts (AKA amnesty) will work in each of the next two summers. I am still frequently asked questions regarding the Flyers' two permitted buyouts, including possible ways to circumvent the rules. As such, I figured it makes sense to devote a blog to the topic.
Can the Flyers buy out Chris Pronger this offseason?
No. Teams are not permitted to buy out injured players who cannot pass a physical to be cleared to play hockey. Pronger still has Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS) symptoms. They may not happen with as much frequency, duration or severity as they did before, but by all accounts the symptoms still exist. Regaining a decent quality of life that is reasonably free of the horrid effects of PCS is not the same thing as being medically able to play hockey.
No reputable doctor would clear Pronger medically just so the Philadelphia Flyers can get some salary cap relief via a buyout. The team is just going to have to work around his salary counting against their offseason and in-season cap figures for the remaining four years of his contract. If need be, the team will use its long-term injured reserve allowance during the season.
It IS allowable for the Flyers to trade Pronger. However, for the next two seasons, it really wouldn't be the type of situation that would be desirable to a team trying to reach the cap floor ala the Tim Thomas trade from Boston to the Islanders. The team that would acquire Pronger's contract would have to pay his salary. For Pronger's $4.9M cap hit, he will make $7 million this year and $4 million in 2014-15. Next season especially, that would be a very undesirable arrangement for a cap floor team.
It is in the final two years of Pronger's contract, which carry a pair of $575,000 real-dollar salaries, in which his contract would be a desirable acquisition for teams trying to reach the cap floor. As such, a Pronger trade could be a viable scenario in the summer of 2015.
Can the Flyers buy out Danny Briere and then sign him to a lower cap hit?
No. If the Flyers use amnesty on Briere, as expected, they will be unable to sign him as a free agent this summer. If he signed a one-year contract with another team, he'd be eligible to return to the Flyers as a free agent next summer.
Can the Flyers and another team looking to buy out a player swap Briere for that player and then both teams use buyouts on the acquired player, with each re-signing with his "former" team as a free agent at a lower cap figure?
It won't happen, so forget about it. There is nothing explicitly prohibiting this, but NHL clubs have already been warned by the League not to even think about circumventing the rules or the case will be investigated by the league (and almost definitely result in punitive sanctions). A "trade" of this nature would blatantly violate the intent both of the buyout rules and the salary cap. It would be indefensible as anything but an end-around on the rules.
What happens if the Flyers don't use up their two compliance buyouts this summer and/or next summer? Can the amnesty be 'saved' for future use?
The buyouts are use-it-or-lose-it. There will be many NHL teams that don't use a single amnesty buyout, let alone both.
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Thursday Quick Hits
* Welcome back Antero Niittymäki: Following his recent retirement as an active player, the Flyers have hired former goaltender Antero Niittymäki as a European-based scout. His initial concentration will be scouting goaltenders overseas but, over time, his role could grow from a specialized one to that of a general scout who is assigned to evaluate players of all positions. Niittymäki, who attempted to play for TPS Turku this past season following hip replacement surgery, spent most of his active career in the TPS and Flyers organizations.
* Speaking of former Flyers goaltenders, Dominic Roussel was one of the people instrumental in the early development of Halifax Mooseheads goalie Zach Fucale (who is expected to be the first goalie chosen in the 2013 NHL Draft, and could very well be the lone netminder selected in the opening round). Fucale was a goaltending pupil of Roussel's for several years. By the way, the
website for Roo's hockey training school in Quebec prominently features a photo of Roussel in a Flyers jersey and toque with his orange and black "33" mask in the background.
* The Flyers annual prospect camp is tentatively scheduled for July 6 to 12. Final details, including the yearly Trial on the Isle, are not yet complete. A formal announcement from the team will be forthcoming once everything is set.
* The latest edition of Elliotte Friedman's
"30 Thoughts" column for CBCsports includes an item that other teams should "hide [their] restricted free agent defencemen from the Philadelphia Flyers" this offseason. While it is strictly speculative and no doubt intended as a tongue-in-cheek comment, Friedman is someone who has his finger on the pulse of teams around the NHL. Following last summer's offer sheet to Shea Weber, even though it was matched by Nashville and the Flyers didn't get the player they coveted, there is still trepidation among some NHL teams -- I would think that St. Louis (Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk) and Winnipeg (Zach Bogosian) would be among the teams -- that the Flyers could force them to dole out a lot more signing bonus money and longer contract lengths than they'd otherwise be inclined to offer to their most prominent RFAs. Personally, I don't see where the Flyers are likely to succeed in getting desired players by targeting RFA defensemen for offer sheets. They took their best shot with Weber last summer.
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