Despite the buyout window opening, Edmonton faces real challenges using buyouts as a way to get out of some unfortunate contracts. Heavy signing bonuses and long-term penalties may force management into trades.
With the NHL's buyout window opening up, the natural question many fans of the Edmonton Oilers will be asking is if there's anyone worth considering for a buyout on the roster. The simple answer? Nope.
The more in-depth answer is that there's no incentive to do so for any of the players who might otherwise have been on the radar for such a move.
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The Early Buyout Candidates
The names that fans might toss around are Tristan Jarry, Trent Frederic, and Darnell Nurse.
In all three cases, there really isn’t anyone who makes for a strong buyout candidate. None of them adds up as a financial win.
Tristan Jarry’s contract is essentially buyout-proof. Jarry has a signing bonus of $3 million this summer and $2.5 million next. His base salary is $1.125 million and $1.625 million, respectively. That means, of his $5.375 million total cap hit, the savings are only $666K in year one and $1.166 million in year two. The Oilers would then have to pay a penalty in years three and four (just over $458K in each year).
The Oilers would be better of burying Jarry in the minors.
Outside of the fact that the Oilers are trying to trade Darnell Nurse, his contract is also essentially buyout-proof. With $6 million in signing bonuses in each of the next four summers, the savings in year one is just over $1.5 million, but only $733K in the remaining years. Edmonton then pays a $466K penalty for four more seasons, all the way up until 2033-34.
As for Trent Frederic? Forget it. Edmonton isn't taking on 14 years of dead cap space to get out of a deal they should have never signed.
So Now What for the Oilers?
In the case of Jarry and Frederic, the Oilers will try to make them work as players on the team next season. If there's the potential to trade either, the Oilers would certainly entertain the idea. That potential is low.
For Nurse, Edmonton will continue to look at trades and try to retain as little salary as possible.
The savings just aren’t significant enough to justify buying out any of the three players. In some cases, the Oilers would actually end up paying more over time.
If there were savings, they would only be minimal and short-term. The money is better spent on the players themselves or on a bad contract they might have to take back in a trade. Remember, there is no on-ice value for dead cap space.
If none are traded, the Oilers have to make it work.
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