Post by zzeke on Mar 25, 2013 20:13:46 GMT -5
Teams get two amnesty buyouts over next two summers
Jan 6, 2013
>> NHL clubs will have to adjust to a $64.3 million salary cap in 2013-14 as part of the tentative new CBA, but they will each get two amnesty buyouts to help them through the transition, according to CP’s Chris Johnston and Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos.
The debate on which players will be bought out will start immediately, but teams don’t need to rush to a decision. NHL franchises will be allowed to use the buyouts starting this summer and they will also have the opportunity to exercise them during the 2014 off-season. They can buy out two players simultaneously or spread them out if they wish.
The players bought out will still receive two-thirds of what’s left on their contract, but those costs will not count towards the salary cap. <<
Full article:
>> This past Sunday, Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced he was sending Scott Gomez home, with pay, for the entire season. Gomez is slated to make $5.5 million this season, while his contract carries a cap hit of $7.357 million.
Gomez was being sent home so the Canadiens could preserve its option to exercise an amnesty buyout on his contract next season. Under the terms of the new CBA, teams are provided with a total of two amnesty buyouts ahead of the next two seasons. Once bought out, the player's cap hit won't count against the salary cap. This is new. Under the old CBA, a buyout counted against a team's salary cap. So the amnesty buyout is designed to act as a relief valve for teams, particularly with the salary cap dropping from $70.2 million this season to $64.3 million next season.
The catch, though, is that an injured player can't be bought out. So that's why the Canadiens sent Gomez home. They wanted to avoid a situation where he got injured, thereby precluding the amnesty buyout. He was effectively being bubble-wrapped in advance of next season's amnesty buyout. <<
>> So that brings us to Tuesday January 15. The NHL and NHLPA announced a deal permitting each team to buyout one player before this Saturday. The buyout would count as one of the two amnesty buyouts. Players who are bought out before the season starts become unrestricted free agents, eligible to sign with any team. The player's full cap hit for the 2012-13 season still counts against the team's cap.
This was all captured in a letter from Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly to the NHLPA on Tuesday. Here are the details from that letter:
(a) All teams are eligible to exercise a maximum of one buyout before the season starts, and that buyout would count against the allotted two amnesty buyouts per team.
(b) In order to be eligible to be bought out now, the player must have a cap hit of at least $3 million.
(c) Before a player can be bought out, he must be placed on waivers by Thursday January 17, 2013 (Both Gomez and Redden have been placed on waivers).
(d) The player has to consent to being bought out by Friday, January 18, 2013.
(e) A player being bought out gets paid his salary for this season (pro-rated to account for the compressed schedule).
(f) The player's cap hit still counts against the team buying out the player. So the Gomez contract for this season will count against the Canadiens salary cap. If the player is sent to the minors before the buyout, the team enjoys a $900,000 discount on the cap hit. Both Redden and Gomez were sent to the minors first, so their cap hits have been discounted to $5.6 million and $6.5 million, respectively. <<
Full article:
www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=413753