The Montreal Canadiens will buyout the contract of defenceman Karl Alzner. It will save the team an approximate $1.67 million with a payout of $3.3 million through the 2023-24 season.
The @CanadiensMTL are buying out Karl Alzner’s contract. He will be placed on unconditional waivers at noon today.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) October 6, 2020
Karl Alzner Has His Contract Bought Out
Alzner has either been a healthy scratch or been injured over the last two seasons. With the moves that general manager Marc Bergevin wants to make, it became inevitable that Alzner was not in the club’s future plans. He only had one goal, 12 assists over the last three seasons and has only participated in 13 games over the last two campaigns. Bergevin plans to improve his roster and has the 16th overall draft selection today to work some magic. He can either deal the pick or keep it. It is a deep draft, so we will see what Bergevin does later today.
Over a 12-year career, Alzner has accumulated 20 goals, and 110 assists in 686 games. The 6′-3″, 213 pound defender has added 843 hits to show off his physical game. Unfortunately, his puck possession skills are not pretty. He has had a Corsi For of 48.9, and a Relative Corsi of -2.7. In addition his giveaways far outnumber his takeaways showing his value has deteriorated. He’s had 413 giveaways as opposed to only 175 takeaways.
What This Means Going Forward
Karl Alzner never really contributed enough to keep him on the roster. Sure, he has good size, but hasn’t played much at all to warrant a huge contract of $4.625 million for the next two seasons. At 32 years old, his usefulness has come and gone for the Habs. Even in an expected move, buying out a contract must be a last-ditch approach for any general manager. With the pandemic, most teams are tightening their salary cap budget and Montreal is no exception. It is more than a cost-cutting move, it is more of a move controlled by the lack of contribution by the player, no matter the circumstances.
This frees up Bergevin to do his favorite thing… develop his roster. He has been known to make some controversial moves and this one is quite characteristic for him. We’ll see what else he has in store for Habs’ fans over the next several days.
In a statement just released after the buyout, Alzer thanked the Montreal organization:
Statement from Karl Alzner @Sportsnet #gohabsgo pic.twitter.com/Qv4wBX2RN2
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) October 6, 2020
Main Photo:
