Buyout Period (Jun 15)

The first day of the buyout period, technically, got started with a bit of a bang, as the Colorado Avalanche announced that they would be buying out the final year of Francois Beauchemin's contract, which was set to have a cap hit of $4.5 million.

Because of having a no-movement clause on the deal, the 37-year old defenseman did not have to pass through waivers and therefore becomes an unrestricted free agent straight away.  Since the Avalanche signed him to a 35+ contract as well, they will have to suffer the full cap hit in the 2018 season, but they will pay him according to the regular buyout schedule.

Beauchemin was still a pool worthy defenseman in the 2017 season, ranking 92nd among all blueliners with 5 goals and 18 points in 81 games.  He'd be considered a very late pick, but he was still better than a lot of other players out there.

There is also the suggestion out there, that buying out Beauchemin will also take away a mandatory protection spot for the Avalanche, which would likely switch the focus from 4F/4D/1G to the 7F/3D/1G scenario.

To a lesser amount of fanfare, the Los Angeles Kings activated defenseman Matt Greene from the Injured Reserve on Wednesday and informed him that he will be among those being bought out in this window, buying out the last year of his current 4-year deal, which will cost the Kings $833,333 over the next two seasons, as his cap hit was $2.5 million.

Greene hasn't ever been a pool worthy player, last season only playing 26 games due to injury, scoring 1 goal and picking up 2 points.

The Kings are in dire need of a real makeover and the blueline is where they will need to put a lot of their focus, when they gussy up this pig of a lineup.  The buyout of Greene should help that quite a bit.