The noise you here is the window being lifted off of the sill for buyouts. The NHL’s first buyout period begins today and will last until June 30th. This very much pertains to the Penguins because they have one of the more obvious buyout candidates in the league in Mikael Granlund.
Granlund has two years remaining on his contract at a 5M cap hit. The Penguins don’t have the ability to sink 5M into another failed mid-tier contract. Ron Hextall’s parting gift cost the Penguins a 2nd round pick and future cap penalties into the future if the Penguins act on this, which I think they will.
Here is how the buyout will be structured per CapFriendly
It would save the Penguins 4.166M this year and 3.166M next year. Two very important years for the franchise as it pertains to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang. Granlund’s potential buyout would count 1.83M against the cap the two years after his deal is done.
The buyout would also take the Penguins to two total buyouts on their books meaning they would not be able to use another one until 2026-27 when Jack Johnson’s ends. Although, the nice thing about buyouts is that you don’t have to worry about them if you aren’t stupid about what you’re doing. Part of the elation surrounding Dubas’ hire is the understanding he wouldn’t be giving out five-year deals to Jack Johnson or trading for past expiration Mikael Granlund.
Using draft capital to rid themselves of the Granlund contract isn’t really worth it in my opinion. They don’t have a lot of it and they really need to shore up the roster. The buyout is very annoying, but it would allow even more flexibility to Dubas and his staff in both cap space and trade capital.
This is all under the assumption no team would actually trade for Granlund with the Penguins not being held over a barrel.
In other news: Finally, we have a former Penguin to infiltrate the Flyers front office
OFFICIAL: We have named John LeClair to the position of Special Advisor to Hockey Operations. https://t.co/ReyV1q97py
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 15, 2023
Thanks for reading!