The NHL and NHL Players' Association have come to an agreement on players being forced to stay home for salary cap reasons this season.
According to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com, teams are now eligible to exercise an "accelerated compliance buyout" on one player with a salary cap hit of $3 million or more before the regular season begins on Saturday.
If a compliance buyout is used this week, a team will have only one left to use next summer.
That could be good news for players such as Scott Gomez and Wade Redden, two players who are not playing this season because if they got injured, their teams could not buy them out after the season.
According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, in order for a player to be bought out this week, he still must clear waivers first. He says to assume that Redden and Gomez will be put on waivers on Wednesday.
Speaking on Cybulski and Company on TSN Radio 1050, Redden's agent Don Meehan explained what this means for his client in the coming days.
"If New York exercises their rights under this agreement then Redden would be in a position where he'd be placed on waivers, and if he cleared waivers he'd then have an opportunity of accepting a buyout or being loaned," Meehan told TSN 1050. "If he accepted the buyout he'd be in a position to look to any other opportunity that he may have in the NHL for employment."
Meehan said he couldn't speculate on any interest in Redden because the defenceman is still Rangers property, but did allow his client would welcome a chance to continue his NHL career this year.
"Yes, (he) is anxious to resume play in the NHL. If the opportunity affords itself he'd very much like that."
Team will take the full cap hit on such players this season, less the $900,000 for not burying the player in the minors, but suffer no cap hit next season or beyond.
Teams would pay out 100 per cent of a player's actual salary this year and two-thirds or one-third (as applicable) over twice the remaining term of the contract and the player is free to sign elsewhere.
However, there's no actual benefit to the teams to take this plan of action other than as a favour to the player to perhaps allow them to sign with another team right away.
In the new collective bargaining agreement, teams were permitted two compliance buyouts after this season or next season.
