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
| Rank | Team | Contracts | Years | Amount |
| 1 | Islanders | 4 | 28 | $44,098,667 |
| 2 | Lightning | 4 | 22 | $42,725,000 |
| 3 | Flyers | 3 | 20 | $26,533,333 |
| 4 | Maple Leafs | 4 | 12 | $11,800,000 |
| 5 | Wild | 3 | 10 | $8,650,000 |
| 6 | Canadiens | 5 | 11 | $8,529,333 |
| 7 | Blackhawks | 3 | 10 | $7,390,666 |
| 8 | Devils | 5 | 12 | $7,166,667 |
| 9 | Blue Jackets | 2 | 8 | $7,033,332 |
| 10 | Rangers | 2 | 5 | $6,666,666 |
| 11 | Canucks | 2 | 6 | $6,333,334 |
| 12 | Bruins | 3 | 8 | $5,333,332 |
| 13 | Senators | 3 | 8 | $4,983,333 |
| 14 | Stars | 2 | 4 | $4,958,999 |
| 15 | Hurricanes | 5 | 9 | $4,850,001 |
| 16 | Kings | 2 | 6 | $4,733,334 |
| 17 | Panthers | 4 | 8 | $4,233,334 |
| 18 | Oilers | 2 | 4 | $3,833,333 |
| 19 | Predators | 2 | 4 | $3,599,999 |
| 20 | Blues | 2 | 4 | $3,399,999 |
| 21 | Coyotes | 3 | 8 | $3,212,500 |
| 22 | Jets/Thrashers | 2 | 4 | $3,200,000 |
| 23 | Capitals | 3 | 6 | $3,083,334 |
| 24 | Ducks | 2 | 4 | $3,033,333 |
| 25 | Red Wings | 1 | 2 | $1,900,000 |
| 26 | Avalanche | 1 | 2 | $1,833,333 |
| 27 | Sabres | 2 | 4 | $949,999 |
| 28 | Flames | 1 | 2 | $283,333 |
| 29 | Sharks | 0 | 0 | $- |
| 29 | Penguins | 0 | 0 | $- |
Buyout Contracts Written by Team
| Rank | Team | Contracts | Years | Amount | Diff |
| 1 | Islanders | 7 | 38 | $ 51,198,667 | $7,100,000 |
| 2 | Lightning | 3 | 22 | $ 41,666,667 | $(1,058,333) |
| 3 | Flyers | 3 | 20 | $ 26,533,333 | $- |
| 4 | Panthers | 7 | 15 | $ 15,466,667 | $11,233,333 |
| 5 | Maple Leafs | 5 | 14 | $ 12,733,333 | $933,333 |
| 6 | Rangers | 5 | 12 | $ 10,816,666 | $4,150,000 |
| 7 | Hurricanes | 7 | 15 | $8,883,334 | $4,033,333 |
| 8 | Kings | 4 | 10 | $7,362,500 | $2,629,166 |
| 9 | Blackhawks | 5 | 14 | $7,169,999 | $(220,667) |
| 10 | Blue Jackets | 2 | 8 | $7,033,332 | $- |
| 11 | Oilers | 3 | 6 | $5,833,333 | $2,000,000 |
| 12 | Wild | 1 | 6 | $5,566,667 | $(3,083,333) |
| 13 | Stars | 2 | 4 | $4,958,999 | $- |
| 14 | Devils | 4 | 8 | $4,500,000 | $(2,666,667) |
| 15 | Senators | 3 | 8 | $4,183,333 | $(800,000) |
| 16 | Capitals | 3 | 6 | $3,083,334 | $- |
| 17 | Bruins | 2 | 4 | $3,083,333 | $(2,249,999) |
| 18 | Ducks | 2 | 4 | $3,033,333 | $- |
| 19 | Predators | 1 | 2 | $2,666,666 | $(933,333) |
| 20 | Blues | 1 | 2 | $2,666,666 | $(733,333) |
| 21 | Red Wings | 2 | 4 | $2,633,333 | $733,333 |
| 22 | Sharks | 1 | 2 | $2,333,333 | $2,333,333 |
| 23 | Coyotes | 1 | 2 | $1,058,333 | $(2,154,167) |
| 24 | Canadiens | 1 | 2 | $1,000,000 | $(7,529,333) |
| 25 | Sabres | 2 | 4 | $949,999 | $- |
| 26 | Canucks | 1 | 2 | $733,334 | $(5,600,000) |
| 27 | Jets/Thrashers | 0 | 0 | $- | $(3,200,000) |
| 28 | Avalanche | 0 | 0 | $- | $(1,833,333) |
| 29 | Flames | 0 | 0 | $- | $(283,333) |
| 30 | Penguins | 0 | 0 | $- | $- |
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