The Puck Stops Here
How To Offload An Unwanted Salary
by PuckStopsHere on 10/23/09 at 11:33 AM ET
Comments (0)
Michael Nylander has one of the larger contracts on the Washington Capitals. He has a salary cap hit of $4.875 million and is signed through the end of the 2010/11 season. This makes him the third highest paid player on the Capitals (behind Alexander Ovechkin and Mike Green). However, he has fallen out of favor with his Capitals team. He only scored nine goals last season and that had the Capitals reconsidering his contract. The Capitals tried to get Nylander signed in the KHL last summer and failed. So far this season, they have yet to play Nylander in a game and have sent him to the AHL in Grand Rapids (the Detroit Red Wings affiliate - not their own affiliate) for a conditioning stint. Conditioning stints can last up to two weeks. Many expect that Washington does not want him back and hope to have found him a KHL suitor by the end of that period.
The salary cap loophole of sending unwanted players to Russia is not new. It has been exploited in the past, but it shows the NHL’s hypocrisy. The NHL screams bloody murder when Alexander Radulov is signed by the league, while at the same time trying to send players to the KHL to hide their salary cap hits.
A player in the KHL is no longer on the books for an NHL team. From an NHL salary cap perspective, it is a way for teams to make bad salaries disappear. All they have to do is find a KHL team interested.
Washington has spent a while trying to market Nylander to the KHL as they do not want him anymore. Should this be allowed? Whatever happened to teams having to be conscientious with salary cap space - wasn’t that one of the promised appeals of a salary cap?
Washington signed Michael Nylander to a large four year contract in 2007. By 2009, they decided it was a mistake. It looks like they have found a way to walk away without a salary cap hit and without paying him.
If you are interested in where Nylander might wind up in Russia here is a Puck Daddy article on the topic.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: KHL, Michael+Nylander, Washington+Capitals,
Comments
Be the first to comment.
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
New Jersey Devils Make The Finals
Los Angeles Kings Make The Stanley Cup Finals
Another Potentially Important Signing
World Hockey Championships: Medal Round
About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
Why are you reading it?
???
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Donate to Kukla’s Korner