NHL Buyouts 2015: Latest News, Amnesty Reports and Rumors on Top Players

NHL teams have no shortage of options when it comes to positioning themselves favorably with regard to the salary cap, but one of the easiest and most popular methods in recent years has been the buyout.  

Although organizations no longer have the benefit of compliance buyouts, which totally eliminated cap hits, regular buyouts are still worth exploring in certain situations. According to CapGeek.org, buyouts allow teams to pay either one-third or two-thirds of a player's remaining salary, depending on their age, and it also lessens the cap hit, although it must be paid over double the amount of years remaining on the contract.

Some contracts are so restrictive that it is essentially impossible to trade them, and that is when buyouts tend to become viable.

Franchises have until June 30 to decide whether they want to pull the trigger on any buyouts, and until then, there will undoubtedly be plenty of rumors and speculation regarding players who could potentially be on the way out.

Here is a rundown of the players who are either on the verge of getting bought out or already have been bought out, as well as the latest chatter regarding players who could suffer that same fate.

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Wild Waive Matt Cooke for Purpose of Buyout

Tuesday, June 23

Forward Matt Cooke has been one of the NHL's top agitators for more than a decade, but the Minnesota Wild have decided to move on after waiving the 36-year-old winger in order to execute a buyout, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Although Cooke posted a respectable 10 points in 29 games last season, he was barely a factor since sports hernia surgery kept him out for much of the campaign. Minnesota is a team that needs to add pieces in order to contend for a Stanley Cup, which means it cannot afford to pay a player to sit out.

According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher admitted that the buyout is financially motivated:

Per Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Fletcher also believes that the buyout will help Minnesota in terms of executing potential trades:

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I'm anxious to talk to lots of people to see what may be happening because there seems to be people that feel they need to do things. But I'm comfortable where I'm at. We bought out (Cooke) so we can manage our situation easier, so any trade we do make won't be because of salary-cap reasons or overreacting to what happened in the spring. It would be to make our team better.

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Cooke was due $3 million during the upcoming season with a $2.5 million cap hit, according to NHLNumbers.com. With part of that cap hit off of the books, the Wild should have an easier time negotiating a new deal with goalie Devan Dubnyk and exploring additional signings.

While Cooke still has the potential to be a productive player after posting 10 goals two seasons ago, he is a depth guy whom Minnesota can certainly live without.

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Sharks Set to Buy Out Adam Burish

Tuesday, June 23

When the San Jose Sharks signed forward Adam Burish to a four-year contract worth $1.8 million per season prior to the 2012-13 campaign, it was a suspect move to say the least. After three years of unproductive play, the Sharks have finally pulled the plug on the experiment.

According to Tim Wharnsby of Reuters, San Jose waived the 32-year-old forward, which paves the way for an inevitable buyout.

NHL Images/Getty Images

The move comes after Burish posted just six points in 81 games over the course of three seasons with the Sharks. After waiving the veteran winger, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson acknowledged that signing him didn't pay dividends, per Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News: "Whether it was injuries or whatever, it just didn't work."

Although the buyout means San Jose will have to pay Burish for an additional season, it knocks the cap hit down to just over $600,000, according to Dhiren Mahiban of the Canadian Press.

Burish was once a solid role player for the Chicago Blackhawks, and he set a career high with 19 points as a member of the Dallas Stars in 2011-12. The Sharks paid him like a player who could produce something more than that, but it never came to fruition.

While Burish isn't a bad player to have in the AHL since he can put up some minutes at the NHL level in a pinch, there won't be a significant market for him in free agency.

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Sabres Weighing Options With Cody Hodgson

Tuesday, June 23

Buffalo Sabres forward Cody Hodgson entered the 2014-15 season with fairly lofty expectations after putting up 20 goals and 44 points during the previous campaign. Instead, he suffered through his worst year as an NHL player as he posted just 13 points despite playing in a career-high 78 games.

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

The Sabres have been in rebuild mode for the past couple of seasons, and they seem poised to make marked improvements in 2015-16 with the arrival of forwards Evander Kane and (most likely) Jack Eichel. Hodgson could potentially be part of the solution if he regains his previous form, but his contract is an issue.

The 25-year-old center carries a cap hit of $4.25 million through the 2018-19 campaign, according to NHLNumbers.com. Buffalo would only be on the hook for one-third of his salary if he is bought out now since he is under the age of 26, but that number would go up to two-thirds next offseason.

Sabres general manager Tim Murray has yet to make a decision, but he isn't shying away from the fact that Buffalo is taking a buyout under consideration, per NHL.com's Joe Yerdon:

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Status is still the same with Cody. We've discussed it with Cody based on the year he's had. And saying that, we've been in contact with his agent. And as I've said before, he's in Sweden. He's trying to improve himself and improve his game and improve his, I guess, fitness. I'm not sure how much fitness came into it, but skating and all that. We're following that and we're getting updates. Again, it's an option based on the league.

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While many are seemingly on the buyout bandwagon after Hodgson's awful season, Yerdon isn't among them:

Hodgson has shown offensive ability in the past with the Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks, and there is a chance that a bounce-back season could be in store due to the upgrades Buffalo has been making.

Sabres management will kick themselves if Hodgson goes on to have success elsewhere, but keeping him would be a large gamble financially.

The decision regarding whether or not to buy out Hodgson is a tough one, but since the Sabres have so much salary-cap space at their disposal currently, it is worth taking one last chance on the former first-round pick.

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