The dispute between the Toronto Maple Leafs and right winger Owen Nolan is about to get messy.
According to a report in the Toronto Star, the Leafs do not intend to buy out the veteran on Friday, instead believing that Nolan's knee injury is not hockey-related, thus negating Nolan's right to exercise a contract option for 2005-2006. So, rather than buy him out at two-thirds of his salary ($3.8-million), the Leafs believe they don't owe Nolan anything.
Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. would not address the issue, telling the Star, "We will not comment on this matter while things are ongoing. There are a number of issues that remain to be established."
If this is indeed the course of action that the Leafs plan to take, they can count on a grievance being filed by Nolan's agent J.P. Barry, along with the support of the NHLPA.
The dispute over Nolan's injury stems from the belief of Nolan's camp that his original knee injury was initially misdiagnosed by the Leafs' training staff, and his current problems are associated with that original injury, which was incurred 15 months ago.
From the Leafs' perspective, the training staff had cleared Nolan medically, then didn't hear anything from Nolan until seven months later when Nolan was about to undergo another surgery.
The Star also reports that the Leafs have filed buyout paperwork with the league to cover themselves in the event that the team loses the anticipated grievance.