It was announced that the Arizona Coyotes have placed forward Michael Grabner on waivers in order to buy out his contract.
Elliotte Friedman reported the news.
Michael Grabner (ARIZ) on waivers for the purposes of a buyout.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 3, 2020
Michael Grabner Has Contract Bought Out
Here’s how according to capfriendly.com the buyout will be broken down.
The Arizona #Coyotes have placed F Michael Grabner on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout.
Buyout cap hit is as follows:
2020-21: $833k
2021-22: $1.25MThe buyout has a smaller cap hit in 2020-21 because the salary was back-loadedhttps://t.co/PqBP4sNMgM pic.twitter.com/mABioyQjYK
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) October 3, 2020
So, the Coyotes will pay out $2,083,000 in total to buy out Grabner’s contract. He could be claimed off waivers, that is yet to be determined. Grabner will be 33 on Monday and was a $3.35 million cap hit for next season. The Coyotes have been trying to reduce their salary cap layout in order to have some freedom to make some trades to improve the team. There have been trade rumours galore sending such players as Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Darcy Kuemper to various teams.
The buyout will help trim the team’s tight salary budget. The buyout will save the team just over $2.5 million next season but will count for $1.25 million in the 2021-22 season. The team will have much more cap space in 2021-22 ($36.2M). The buyout has a much smaller cap hit because it was a back loaded contract.
What This Means Going Forward
Grabner who had just three goals and nine assists in 46 games last season was a healthy scratch many times during the season. Grabner is a premier penalty killer and scores shorthanded goals. He was battling back from a horrific eye injury which took him some time to recover. His has played in 640 career NHL games. He’s tallied 175 goals and 101 assists for 276 points. His career has spanned six different teams. He has played for the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and the Coyotes.
Could he be headed back to the east coast? Playing for that many teams, he’s sure to have a close relationship with his moving company. We will need to wait and see what other moves new general manager Bill Armstrong has up his sleeve.
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