CBA Related What Would You Do With Amnesty ...CBA

[idahophilly]

OK, I have heard this for like a year now and I forget what article I read today but it's time for a bit of a fantacy! It's rumored, and happened last time as I recall, that there will be a provision for each team to buy out one contract with amnesty, meaning it will NOT count against the salary cap. If the team is willing to pony up the money then they can say bye bye to the player and the cap hit.

This has happened in other sports on a number of occasions.

So, that leads us to the BIG question! Who do you buy out?

Lets take a look...

The two big horses in this race will be Pronger and Bryz...

Pronger- Well let us consider this. We know he is injured, probably career ending. However, since it's easy to prove the injury he can go on LTIR each season, ala Lappy/Rathje, and cost us little during the regular season.

Bryz- Now, he is not hurt so we are stuck with his inflated contract for what, another 8 years? But, don't be so fast to make him the choice... Who will replace him? Are we all comfortable with a Bob/Leighton tandem again? Perhaps someone can let me know what goalies are UFA's or RFA's. Perhaps a trade is in order. Buyout Bryz, sign Parise and flip him to Vancouver or LA for one of their guys in net. Both teams are stacked in goal.

But there are some dark horses in this competition also...

Briere??? I can't see it but it is a huge contract.

Timmo??? Another big contract on a player who is injured almost every year and no spring chicken.

Or do you just torpedoe Bryz and roll the dice with Bob/Leighton???

What do you all think?

[flyercanuck]

Sign Parise and flip him? Seriously?

As for the buyout, geez, I don't know....let me think about that one awhile.

[Spinorama]

Pronger- Well let us consider this. We know he is injured, probably career ending. However, since it's easy to prove the injury he can go on LTIR each season, ala Lappy/Rathje, and cost us little during the regular season.

I agree here, definitely not worth it. LTIR him each year and forget about it. What's the downside there? a roster spot?

Are we all comfortable with a Bob/Leighton tandem again?

I'm not. Before we signed Bryz, I was looking forward to seeing what Bob could do with his rookie season and all the adjustments he needed to make behind him. I still like the guy but it's hard to ignore his results this year. There are plenty of reason to point to as excuses, like that he didn't play very often, so he couldn't keep sharp. Team D really was that bad (it really was but was it why he didn't do as well as I hoped?). Due to the fact that Bob is entering the final year of his contract, I wonder if his value isn't greater now to be shopped rather than hold on to him. As far as the other side of that tandem goes, anyone but Leighton please.

Briere??? I can't see it but it is a huge contract.

Timmo??? Another big contract on a player who is injured almost every year and no spring chicken.

Briere's post season play really makes it difficult to entertain him as a top choice, otherwise I'd say sure, why not.

Timmo for me is a tough case as well cause I like the guy and I know he can play, it's just becoming apparent his body is getting in the way. It's been suggested that he get relegated to the 3rd D pairing to keep down his minutes but someone would need to fill in and I'm not sure they can afford his price in the 3rd pair.

it's an interesting question, that's for sure. I guess the only definite is as I said earlier, to use it on Pronger would be a waste... unless there is a benefit I'm missing.

[flyerrod]

like there is an option other than Bryz? His butt would be out of here on a rocket....(For 10 mil I can arrainge for a seat on the next SOYUZ).....

[flyercanuck]

Briere shows up in the playoffs. You could probably trade Briere and get something worthwhile if he'd waive the NTC. Timonen is done after next year, so that's not bad. pronger we can LTIR. Ya, it's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.

[idahophilly]

Sign Parise and flip him? Seriously?

As for the buyout, geez, I don't know....let me think about that one awhile.

Oh, don't mis-understand... I'm not saying to do that. Just an option. Big time foward for a big time goalie. But package JVR and some picks if it will get it done and keep Parise... and we still get a really good goalie... But, then what to do with Bob?

[OccamsRazor]

Briere shows up in the playoffs. You could probably trade Briere and get something worthwhile if he'd waive the NTC. Timonen is done after next year, so that's not bad. pronger we can LTIR. Ya, it's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.

Snider will never do that because he'd have to come out an admit to a mistake.

I don't have a problem with the Bryz thing beside the length. I could have dealt with the HUGE yearly salary had it not been for more than 3 years.

Committing to a guy who had never played before in Philly is just ABSURD!!!!!!!!!!!!

[aziz]

Pronger- Well let us consider this. We know he is injured, probably career ending. However, since it's easy to prove the injury he can go on LTIR each season, ala Lappy/Rathje, and cost us little during the regular season.

he costs cap space during the offseason, which means less flexibility to put a complex series of moves/signings together. he costs tagging room for renewing contracts. if there is an opportunity to get out from under that contract at a discount and no cap penalty -and if pronger really is done- i see no reason at all to not do it. i mean, the choice is to pay him 2/3rds of the rest of the contract all at once and have done with it, or pay the full amount over the next several years while dealing with the strings LTIR includes..why would the flyers choose the more expensive and more restrictive option?

Bryz- Now, he is not hurt so we are stuck with his inflated contract for what, another 8 years? But, don't be so fast to make him the choice... Who will replace him? Are we all comfortable with a Bob/Leighton tandem again? Perhaps someone can let me know what goalies are UFA's or RFA's. Perhaps a trade is in order. Buyout Bryz, sign Parise and flip him to Vancouver or LA for one of their guys in net. Both teams are stacked in goal.

no more thought required: he'd be gone. of course, it isn't my $27mil. the question is what would i do, and i'd buy him out with no regrets (other than having signed him in the first place). as for his replacement, i don't know. i wouldn't be particularly comfortable with bob/leighton, but i am confident that at some point over the next 8 years the flyers can find someone better than bryzgalov. maybe there is a season or two or three of shopping around, but as far as i'm concerned, bryzgalov represents a hard cap on the flyers' potential. every season he is with the team is a season they will ultimately lose. that being the case, rolling the dice on whomever you can find is a better bet.

dunno how you'd sign and trade parise, though. for one, i'm sure he'd want some kind of movement restriction in the contract...and signing the guy would mean the flyers won the bidding. i.e., they were willing to pay him more than anyone else. if LA (or anyone else) wasn't willing to pay him that during his free agency, don't know why they'd be willing to pay him a week later after a trade.

i don't think there are any other problem contracts. timonen is done after next season. briere has a few left, but he makes his money in the postseason...and besides, the difference between his cap hit and his salary would make him a nice trading piece to a team near the floor, if it came down to that. and if he were willing to waive the NMC.

so, if there is a penalty free buyout period, a confirmed done pronger and bryzgalov would absolutely be gone.

[AndyS]

My choice would be Bryz if Homer was planning to make a move to acquire Luongo.

[OccamsRazor]

My choice would be Bryz if Homer was planning to make a move to acquire Luongo.

Huh......no way would i trade a player who can't handle the pressure for another goalie that can't handle the pressure....don't make sense.

[AndyS]

Huh......no way would i trade a player who can't handle the pressure for another goalie that can't handle the pressure....don't make sense.

Took the Canucks to a game #7.

Maybe he could use the proverbial change of scenery.

Got a better idea?

[mojo1917]

Took the Canucks to a game #7.

Maybe he could use the proverbial change of scenery.

Got a better idea?

kidnap jonathan quick...?

[mojo1917]

to the question at hand, whom would I buy out ?

i don't know where the cap will wind up reports are 69 and then a 20% drop with the new cba , pronger's deal is 4.75 cap hit ? you're allowed to be 10% over the cap in the offseason, which by my quick monkey math is pretty much the entirety of that 10% thus making a defense corps roster makeover very difficult. so i think cp 20 is the contract to buy out, LTIR ing him for the rest of the decade might be too much monkey business, either him or bryzgalov, i agree with noodl when he says bryz is like having a hard cap on championships, i want him to succeed but can't get past the bad parts of his game for all of claude giroux's dominant years.

coin flip comes down heads, it's bryzgalov

[Irishjim]

Buyout Bryz, sign Parise and flip him to Vancouver or LA for one of their guys in net. Both teams are stacked in goal.

if he or his agent even thought that was a possibility, there's no way he'd sign here in the first place, so this scenario would never happen.

[Flyersfan71]

If the Flyers decided to cut ties with Bryzgalov You will have one Hell of a time finding an elite or above average goalie to ever sign here on the fear he slips once and hes out. The Flyers have shown nothing but loyalty to their players. Thats why they always seem to be in the running for top free agents. That and the blank checks

[Orangecat]

kidnap jonathan quick...?

HAHA sounds good to me!

[peter puck]

What would be nice is if the new cba has an amnesty clause for that one time bad contract and a clause that allows you to buy out a player that has a career ending injury. To keep teams from faking injuries there would be an independent physician that would determine that the injury is career ending.

[flyerrod]

coin flip comes down heads,or tails, it's bryzgalov

There, I fixed it for you......

[JackStraw]

I would definitely buy out Pronger's contract. As aziz points out, there are strings attached to LTIR, it's not a "get out of salary cap jail free" card. From CapGeek.com:

"Just because a player is on LTIR does not automatically grant the team extra cap space. In the event a player is placed on LTIR, his cap hit still counts toward the team's overall cap payroll. Relief only comes if replacing the player's salary pushes the team's cap payroll to date over the cap. The amount of relief is limited to the amount the team has gone over the cap (less the amount of payroll room the team had at the time the LTIR transaction took place), not the entire amount of the injured player's salary."

If Pronger is really done you have to buy him out if you have the opportunity. With Bryzgalov there are at least possibilities. He almost certainly will be better than he was this year. If he is just a legitimate NHL goalie (which I'm pretty sure he is) that may be good enough, at least to give the team a few more chances at a playoff run in the coming years. Also, there is no obvious alternative unless you think Bobrovsky is going to be a stud. But if management really thought that, why would they bring in Bryz for 9 years?

Finally, I seriously doubt that either Snider or Homer are willing to give up on Bryzgalov after only one year.

[idahophilly]

if he or his agent even thought that was a possibility, there's no way he'd sign here in the first place, so this scenario would never happen.

I would agree, but if they knew that was the plan and a 3 way deal was there, why not, if they were ok with it. It's not like it would be the 1st 3 way ,(ummm) I mean 3 way deal to ever happen. Highly unlickely I know. I wasn't saying this was the corner stone of my strategy. Just thinking out side the box because you can best bet Hommer is....

[aziz]

If the Flyers decided to cut ties with Bryzgalov You will have one Hell of a time finding an elite or above average goalie to ever sign here on the fear he slips once and hes out.

i don't think so. i think the hockey world would realize that the flyers got suckered (read: suckered themselves) and had to bail. plus, it's not like it would be a bad thing for bryzgalov. he'd collect 2/3rd's of the contract's value for 1 year's worth of work, and then be able to sign a new contract somewhere next season. if anything, it would make the flyers a more inviting destination, because they were willing to pay handsomly for failure. as opposed to NYR, who just burry gigantic contracts in the minors.

it'd be embarassing for the team, i guess, but it already is.

[OccamsRazor]

Took the Canucks to a game #7.

Maybe he could use the proverbial change of scenery.

Got a better idea?

HHHHHhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm the more i think about it.

A straight up swap Illya for Roberto?

Ok it's a deal.

Hell why not?

[terp]

I'm repeating myself, so I apologize in advance to those for whom this is droning on:

While I can see the league granting some cap relief for LTIR players whose careers are over (even though the mechanics of this are very challenging), I can't imagine buy outs of injured players.

Comcast will never pony up the cash to buy out Bryz. Sorry, but we're stuck with him. Not looking forward to 8 more years of his play (or, for that matter, his brutal humor).

I would buy out Briere in a nanosecond. He's almost 35, scored 16 goals in 72 games this past season and took a lot of big hits. I see a trend. If I'm going to have a forward other than Claude Giroux taking up that much cap space, I'd prefer that it be Zach Parise.

I would buy out and resign Timo (if that wouldn't be too weird for the league).

Edited May 15, 2012 by terp

[aziz]

I can't imagine buy outs of injured players.

out of curiosity, why not? a buy out helps the player, too, from a point of view, anyway. he get's 2/3rds of the rest of the contract's worth in his pocket right now. that's a better payout than taking lottery winnings in one lump sum. invest it wisely and the guy can make up that missing third pretty easy.

Comcast will never pony up the cash to buy out Bryz.

i figured the same until i started thinking about it. for one thing, they are going to pony up the cash one way or the other. the only question is when. now, or smeared over 8 more years. the other thing is they would actually be ponying up less cash on the buyout, one third less. on the $51mil contract, $10mil has already been paid. $41mil left, and 2/3rd's of that is...~$27.5mil they'd have to come up with to get rid of the SPC. i mean, that's a lot of money, but it is on the verge of becoming an amount someone might talk about spending in exchange for better post-season prospects going forward, which means more ticket sales, which means softening the blow. again, spend $41mil over the next 8 years with an invalid in goal, or spend $27mil today to put it behind you and find a better path.

it'd be enough of a WOW thing that i kinda doubt it'll happen, but the details almost make it plausible.

i don't know. it seems conceivable.

[terp]

out of curiosity, why not?

it'd be enough of a WOW thing that i kinda doubt it'll happen, but the details almost make it plausible.

i don't know. it seems conceivable.

In the case of a player like Pronger, who will probably never play again, the buy out results in 2/3 of the money he would receive under the contract and that would be the extent of his future earnings. He would have to make a 50% return on the buy out money during the remaining term of the contract, net of the tax impact, in order for it to be a push for the player. I would expect the PA to view that as a cut in pay for those players and to say no on that basis.

In the case of Bryzgalov, there are so many reasons why This will never happen. Snider would have to admit the mistake and also have the balls to recommend a buy out a year later. Then Comcast would have to go for it and agree to pay out $27MM in one year instead of spread out over several. I'm with you that it seems pretty far fetched (and attractive, I would add).