Three fascinating cases for the NHL amnesty clause buyout

The amnesty buyout clause is back on the table in the NHL's CBA negotiations, according to Larry Brooks of the NY Post. Which is interesting on several levels.

The NHL was never exactly in favor of the amnesty buyouts, which would allow teams to escape poison contracts (Rick DiPietro, Wade Redden and the like) by buying them out with no penalty against the salary cap. That's in keeping with the League's disdain for cap circumventing contracts, burying players in the AHL and other loophole-ish behavior. Gary Bettman and Co. have been consistent: You sign the deal, you face the consequences.

Hence, Craig Custance of ESPN.com believes that it's the NHLPA that may have anted up amnesty in the negotiations, knowing that a good percentage of owners find the option appealing — especially when they know the cap will be reduced down in Year 2 of the new CBA after the NHL allows teams to exceed it for a season.

The best thing about amnesty being in the conversation is, in fact, the conversation: Every time it comes up, fans start forecasting which players would be jettisoned and digital ink is spilled on the teams that need them most.

Michael Traikos of the National Post did the team-by-team thing on the amnesty clause, which led to some weird leaps in logic (the Dallas Stars signing, and then buying out, Jaromir Jagr) and some absolute guarantees (Scott Gomez, who would be bought out before the ink dried on the CBA by the Montreal Canadiens).

Three of his options struck us as really, really intriguing.

From the National Post:

This one might seem obvious until you factor in that he was part of Terry Pegula's initial big splash as an owner. Granted, he's a hockey guy and someone that doesn't seem egomaniacal enough to never own up to a mistake. But he's also someone that committed six years to a player and may not seek to define Leino as a mistake after one season and with a $4.5 million cap hit.

Heatley has the rest of this season and one more at $7.5 million, having posted 53 points in 82 games with the Wild last season. But again, the decision goes beyond the dollars: Heatley's well-liked in the Wild room and helped recruit Ryan Suter to the fold with some sort of Wisconsin hockey voodoo spell.

Is he worth the money? No. Would that lead to a buyout? Potentially, given that players salaries are the chief reason the Wild don't turn a profit said owner Craig Leipold months before committing $196 million to two players.

Finally …

This is a tough one.

Bryzgalov's contract runs through 2020, but that drop in value after 2018 would seem to indicate that would be his last season in the NHL. Would the Flyers be willing to crank up the goalie carousel again after Ed Snider deemed Bryzgalov as a victory for stability between the pipes?

Sean C. from Flyers Nation look at the end of the Universe:

The timing of the buyouts is an interesting concept; would they have to occur before a shortened season begins or would they be for next summer? Could the Flyers give Bryz another audition and then make the call in June?

Again, not every team is going to go down the amnesty road. The tricky part for the ones that do: Is this decision too short-sighted?