On Friday at 3 p.m. MT, the National Hockey League’s annual buyout period begins. The period allows the NHL’s 31 general managers to spend their way out of any mistakes they’ve made, so long as ownership is okay with paying guys not to play.
Don’t expect the Calgary Flames to buy any players out, though.
The obvious candidate to get bought out would be Milan Lucic. Acquired last July from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for James Neal (and a third round pick), Lucic carries a $6 million cap hit (of which $575,000, or 12.5%, is covered by Edmonton).