The extended hiatus of the NHL could lead to compliance buyouts available for teams. How would the Carolina Hurricanes use theirs?
The NHL has been placed on hiatus for a while now. We haven’t had Carolina Hurricanes hockey for almost a month. The season should have been over by now. The playoffs should have started. This is all lost revenue for the teams, the league, and the players. But the effects can go deeper than that.
In fact, the losses to the league are estimated to be up to a Billion dollars. That’s billions with a capital ‘B’. Which in turn will have an effect on the upcoming season’s cap limit. While the NHLPA won’t allow the cap limit to be any lower than it is, chances are, the lost revenue will limit any increases to the limit, meaning that chances are high that it won’t change at all.
Now, it has already been reported that the league wanted to raise the limit to $84 million and $88.2 Million, but now that doesn’t look to be happening after all. Which leaves many GMs having misplanned for the future of their team.
The solution? Compliance Buyouts.
Back in 2013 and 2014, during the buyout periods, teams were permitted two compliance buyouts or amnesty buyouts. This happened because of the 2012-2013 NHL lockout that stopped the Cap from increasing. Sound familiar?
Chances are that to help teams stay under the cap limit, compliance buyouts would be permitted. Teams would be allowed to use them on one, maybe two players to help them manage their contracts.
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Unlike regular buyouts, compliance buyouts only pay the player two-thirds of their contract over twice that time, one-third if they are under the age of 26. They were also allowed on any 35+ contracts as well. Also, money owed to players under compliance buyouts did not count against the salary cap.
The catch? Players could not rejoin the team that bought them out for a full season, a restriction that doesn’t exist in regular buyouts.
So, for teams against the salary cap like the Carolina Hurricanes who might be looking to pay a few players like Warren Foegele and Haydn Fleury this offseason, whenever it happens, compliance buyouts are a godsend.
But who would the Carolina Hurricanes use a compliance buyout on?
Well before we start naming players, note that these buyouts mean that the team loses the player for at least a season (probably more if we are being honest since they will be free agents). The team also still has to pay the player, but it won’t be counted against the cap, if the player is under 26, that’s less money owed.
Looking through the roster, there really isn’t anyone that pops out at me as someone the team would immediately choose to hand a compliance buyout to. But if the team was backed into a salary cap corner and simply had to buy someone out, these three come to mind.
Jordan Staal
There should never be a conversation where you consider buying out the team captain. Jordan Staal may need to step up him game from time to time, but he is still the captain.
That all said, he has one of the longest contracts on the team, signed for the next three seasons and is making more money than everyone not named Sebastian Aho. Add on the fact that his NMC makes him virtually unmovable and you have the perfect storm for a buyout that you never want to make, but could have to if you needed to.
Jake Gardiner
Gardiner has been on the wrong end of too many plays, and while that is the result of way too much bad puck luck, many Caniacs have some buyers remorse when it comes to the $4 Million he is getting for the next three seasons after this one.
The 29-year-old defender may also be looking at a third-line pairing come next season, once everyone is back and healthy. If Jake Bean is NHL ready, there is no reason to retain Gardiner either. Saving money on him would be the smart move.
James Reimer
James Reimer was almost bought out by Florida before making the trade to Carolina and establishing himself as a good duo to Petr Mrazek. So why would I consider buying out Reimer?
Because Alex Nedjelkovic is coming.
Next year there will be a three-headed monster in Carolina which can see a player hit waivers. Using a compliance buyout on a netminder would save the Carolina Hurricanes money and resolve the situation easily. Reimer might be the better netminder right now, but Petr Mrazek is four years his junior and can play more games consistently.
None of these are easy choices. None of these are choices I want to make. But these are some players that can find themselves with another team come next season. Time will tell.
Question for CC Readers: Which player would you use a compliance buyout on?