Waiving More Defensemen For Buyouts

All three players listed below are not necessarily considered to be hockey pool-type players, but it is worth noting, given that they do have some significant payroll numbers, that they have been waived for the purposes of being bought out. All three are expected to clear waivers before free agency opens at Noon ET on Tuesday and these teams wish to have a little bit more play in their budget when free agency does open.

This also gives me a chance to debut my new team graphics for the upcoming season.  How do they look?

The Calgary Flames placed 30-year old defenseman Shane O'Brien on waivers on Monday morning, as he has one more season left on his deal, coming in at a $2 million cap hit.  O'Brien played in 45 games for the Flames in 2014, only picking up 3 assists in the process.  For a $2 million price tag, there was just no need for him, especially if he was going to spend time in the minors.

O'Brien is expected to use a compliance buyout, the first that the Flames have used in these last couple of seasons.  His buyout will not cost anything against the salary cap over the next couple of years.

The Flames now have a greater distance to make it to the salary cap floor, as they now have 14 players signed on for $39.1 million.  They have to spend $9.9 million just to get to the $50 cap floor, which shouldn't be a problem, given that they have nine roster spots to fill.

The New Jersey Devils hummed and hawed about the prospect of buying out defenseman Anton Volchenkov, who has two more seasons of a $4.25 million cap hit. Volchenkov has never been an offensive defenseman and hardly a hockey pool candidate in his career, rather he is the hard-hitting shut down defenseman, but as a one-dimensional player, his cap hit appears to be quite high.

Volchenkov is also expected to take up a compliance buyout, which would mean the Devils will have used both of their CBA allowed buyouts, which they were given with the new agreement before last year's shortened season.

This will mean that the Devils are down to 15 players on their projected roster, coming in at $54.5 million.  This leaves about $14.5 million to sign up their last eight roster spots.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have already used both of their allotted compliance buyouts, so the move to place veteran defenseman Tim Gleason on waivers for the purposes of buying him out, will mean that Gleason will count against the cap for the next four years. Gleason has two years left on his current deal, which was set to count $4 million against the cap in Toronto. With the proposed buyout, Gleason will now count at around $833,333 in the 2015 season and will fluctuate, due to CBA rules over the next couple of seasons.

In the 2014 season, Gleason played in 56 games, scoring 1 goal and 6 points, ranking 200th among all blueliners in scoring.  Gleason, much like Volchenkov, wasn't really leaned upon for his offensive prowess, but with younger defenders playing such a better two-way game, it squeezes these guys out easily.

With the math done, thanks to good ol' CapGeek, the Leafs are now showing 12 players on their projected roster for $45.8 million, just short of the floor, leaving about $23.2 million for 11 roster spots.