Huge news out of Nashville reported first by Elliotte Friedman. The Nashville Predators are preparing to buy-out the remaining three years of Matt Duchene's $56m, 7 year contract. This has officially solidified the Trotz era in Nashville is in full swing. The Preds reduce the annual salary cap hit (but not by much) and will now pay Duchene for the next 6 years. Today was the last day to do so for this season. The Preds will save roughly $4.6m in cap space over the term if I remember correctly. I'll be sure to make any corrections in a follow up post.
Per CapFriendly, Duchene's buyout cap hit will be: beginning in the 23-24 season and going through the 28-29:
$2,555,556 $5,555,556 $6,555,556 $1,555,556 $1,555,556 $1,555,556
You'll notice the second and third years of the buyout are by no means insignificant cap hit sums. Trotz had a clear reasoning behind this because the numbers alone are unable to shed light on the full story. Paying someone $6m (in cap space, not real dollars) to not play for you is a tough pill to swallow, especially a player with skill.
More analysis on how this process works on when I follow up with a draft review too. It's a really interesting move. The Preds, through this buyout, are not getting a huge amount of relief and will have considerable dead cap hits for the foreseeable future (retention of Ekholm and Joey; Buyouts of Duchene and, yes Turris is still around the Preds' balance sheet).
It's safe to say, Barry is not messing around.
Tough to see him move on, but I'll look to understand the business of hockey and the goals Trotz has for this new era. I am certain such a decision does not come lightly.
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