Scott Gomez

Dollars And Sense

There’s a lot of buy-outs going on right now, so I figured I’d take a look at how bad it’s been over the last several seasons.  Using CapGeek.com, I was able to take a look back to 2006 when they began keeping data – NOTE: this does not include the previous amnesty buy-outs from 2005, such as Bobby Holik.

It’s an interesting tale, dating back to July 1st 2006 through to around 4pm Eastern on July 3rd, 2013, teams have combined to buy out 77 contracts, for a total of 231 years and a total of $234,348,494.  That’s equivalent of about seven percent of the pre-lockout revenue total of $3.2B.

The top teams in terms of contract buy-outs are the Canadiens, Devils and Hurricanes with five, followed by Islanders, Lightning, Maple Leafs and Panthers who have each bought out four.  If you look at the number of years bought out, the Isles lead with a total of 28 years bought out, with the Lightning – 22, Flyers – 20, Maple Leafs – 12 and Devils – 12.

Looking at it in dollar terms, the Isles top the list again, with a shade over $44M spent mostly to Alexei Yashin and Rick DiPietro, followed up by the Lightning with $42.7M, Flyers – $26.5M, Maple Leafs – $11.8M and Wild $8.6M.

Still, the team who does the buyout, didn’t necessarily write the contract.  If you look at it in those terms, the Islanders, Panthers and Hurricanes have each written 7 contracts that would ultimately be bought out, followed by the Maple Leafs, Rangers and Blackhawks each with 5.

In contract year terms: 38 years of Islander committed contracts were bought out, Lightning and Flyers hold steady at 22 and 20 respectively, and the Panthers and Hurricanes weight it at 15.

Finally in dollar terms, the Islanders blow out to $51.2M of buyouts, Lightning drop slightly to $41.7M, Flyers hold at $26.5M, Panthers almost quadruple to $15.5M, Maple Leafs edge up to $12.7M and the Rangers jump into the top five with $10.8M.

If you look at it in terms of the net gain or loss in bought out contracts, then Florida leads the way with a net +$11.2M of contracts written versus contract values bought out.  The Isles are also up there with +$7.1M, the Rangers with +$4.1M, Hurricanes with +$4.0 and Kings with +$2.7M.

At the other end of the scale, the Canadiens have a net loss of -$7.5M, followed up by the Canucks with -$5.6M, the Jets/Thrashers with -$3.2M, Wild with -$3,1M and Devils with -$2.7M.

Buyouts by Team 

RankTeamContractsYearsAmount
1Islanders428$44,098,667
2Lightning422$42,725,000
3Flyers320$26,533,333
4Maple Leafs412$11,800,000
5Wild310$8,650,000
6Canadiens511$8,529,333
7Blackhawks310$7,390,666
8Devils512$7,166,667
9Blue Jackets28$7,033,332
10Rangers25$6,666,666
11Canucks26$6,333,334
12Bruins38$5,333,332
13Senators38$4,983,333
14Stars24$4,958,999
15Hurricanes59$4,850,001
16Kings26$4,733,334
17Panthers48$4,233,334
18Oilers24$3,833,333
19Predators24$3,599,999
20Blues24$3,399,999
21Coyotes38$3,212,500
22Jets/Thrashers24$3,200,000
23Capitals36$3,083,334
24Ducks24$3,033,333
25Red Wings12$1,900,000
26Avalanche12$1,833,333
27Sabres24$949,999
28Flames12$283,333
29Sharks00$-
29Penguins00$-

Buyout Contracts Written by Team 

RankTeamContractsYearsAmountDiff
1Islanders738$ 51,198,667$7,100,000
2Lightning322$ 41,666,667$(1,058,333)
3Flyers320$ 26,533,333$-
4Panthers715$ 15,466,667$11,233,333
5Maple Leafs514$ 12,733,333$933,333
6Rangers512$ 10,816,666$4,150,000
7Hurricanes715$8,883,334$4,033,333
8Kings410$7,362,500$2,629,166
9Blackhawks514$7,169,999$(220,667)
10Blue Jackets28$7,033,332$-
11Oilers36$5,833,333$2,000,000
12Wild16$5,566,667$(3,083,333)
13Stars24$4,958,999$-
14Devils48$4,500,000$(2,666,667)
15Senators38$4,183,333$(800,000)
16Capitals36$3,083,334$-
17Bruins24$3,083,333$(2,249,999)
18Ducks24$3,033,333$-
19Predators12$2,666,666$(933,333)
20Blues12$2,666,666$(733,333)
21Red Wings24$2,633,333$733,333
22Sharks12$2,333,333$2,333,333
23Coyotes12$1,058,333$(2,154,167)
24Canadiens12$1,000,000$(7,529,333)
25Sabres24$949,999$-
26Canucks12$733,334$(5,600,000)
27Jets/Thrashers00$-$(3,200,000)
28Avalanche00$-$(1,833,333)
29Flames00$-$(283,333)
30Penguins00$-$-
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