NHL trips up buyouts

June 26, 2013   Trade Rumors   1,753 views

The NHL on Monday moved to close a loophole left in the allegedly airtight collective bargaining agreement by notifying general managers the league would deem re-signing a player following a trade and a subsequent amnesty buyout as circumvention, and thus would not register the contract, The Post has learned.

It is believed the Lightning and Maple Leafs had discussed such a maneuver regarding Vincent Lecavalier, who has seven years and $45 million remaining on his contract, with the buyout thus worth slightly more than $30 million.

The amnesty buyout period begins Wednesday night at 11:00, and lasts through July 4, one day before the opening of this year’s free agent market.

 The clubs theoretically would have concocted a swap in which Tampa Bay would have sent an asset — perhaps a draft pick — to rolling-in-dough Toronto along with Lecavalier, who would have re-signed a more modest deal with the Lightning after being bought out by the Leafs.

Such a scheme would have saved Tampa Bay’s ownership a substantial sum while easing a cap squeeze for general manager Steve Yzerman, whose club currently faces a charge of $7.727 million per for Lecavalier through 2019-20 and the danger of significant cap-recapture penalties should No. 4 retire while still under contract.

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