As news that the NHL salary cap may remain flat at $81.5 million next season, the discussion immediately shifted to amnesty buyouts. It’s a natural progression in conversation, as any conversation that begins with a change from the expected leads to discussion about how to adjust and provide alternative measures. For the NHL, this means amnesty buyouts, and how teams may be allowed one amnesty buyout if the cap stays the same.
An amnesty buyout is a regular contract buyout, but the cap hit doesn’t stay on the books. So unlike the buyouts of Kevin Shattenkirk or Dan Girardi, which are on the books through the end of 2022-2023, if the Rangers choose to go the amnesty buyout route, the cash paid out would be the same as a regular buyout, but they’d remove the cap hit completely from their books.