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  1. #1




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    Is this legal in the new CBA?

    So, each team has the ability to make 2 amnesty buyouts (not counting Montreal and NYR) this upcoming season. But, as I understand it, you cannot buy a player out and then resign him to a new deal (basically, no renegotiating). But, I have a question about a hypothetical situation:

    As a Flyers' fan, I'll use Danny Briere and the Anaheim Ducks as an example. Let's say the Flyers want to keep Briere, but want to sign him to a cheaper deal. They approach Briere and tell him "We want to keep you, but at your current cap hit, we just can't. If we were able to sign you for $5M a year for 4 years, would you agree?" Seeing as Briere has 2 kids and seems to like it in the Philadelphia area, he informs them that he would accept that. The Flyers then call the Ducks, saying, "We're going to trade you Danny Briere and a conditional 3rd-round pick for future considerations; however, opposed to most conditional picks, the condition is that you buy out Briere." The Ducks accept the trade, and buy out Briere, gaining Philadelphia's 3rd round pick, and allowing the Flyers to resign Briere at the agreed cost.

    Is there any rule prohibiting that? Obviously you'd have to trust the other team to hold up their end, but just wondering.

  2. #2
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    As far as I know there is nothing that would prevent that from happening..... I just don't know how realistic the scenario is. I know you're only using these guys as an example.... but the Ducks would spend millions of dollars on a 3rd round pick? Doesn't make any sense. I think the buyouts are 2/3s of the salary, no cap hit.... right? Wouldn't that mean the Ducks essentially buy a 3rd round pick for (roughly) 3.3 million bucks? Just seems to steep.

    Briere has two more years left on his deal. Cap hit of 6.5 million, but real salary of 3 million and 2 million for those seasons. I think what is FAR more likely, is the Flyers trade him to a team like Columbus, or the Islanders, etc. Teams that want to spend as little as possible. Briere eats a total of 13 million in cap space over two years, while costing only 5. What would that be worth to a team wanting to spend below the floor?


    Another option might be the Flyers find a trade partner looking to do the same thing. For example, the Oilers want to buyout Shawn Horcoff, but bring him back at a reduced salary. Trade the players to each other.... do the buyouts.... and then guys resign with their origional team (granted, this likely doesn't work either - becuase the buyouts are not equal).

  3. #3




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    I hadn't actually considered the idea of "buying" draft picks with these amnesty buyouts, but it does seem like a possibility.

    You can't tell me that one of the deep pocket teams around the league with buyouts in hand wouldn't chunk out a couple million for extra draft picks. Who's NYR gonna use their 2nd buyout on? Does Toronto have anyone they really want to buy out at all? $3M for a 3rd rd pick might be a bit of a stretch, but what's Calgary's 2nd rounder worth, if they finish in the bottom 5 and want to get out from under Bouwmeester or Cammalleri's contracts?

  4. #4




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    I would venture to say this is collusion, and probably frowned upon by the other owners. There may even be a clause in the CBA preventing it.

  5. #5




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    I would venture to say this is collusion, and probably frowned upon by the other owners. There may even be a clause in the CBA preventing it.

    Collusion: (as per Wikipedia)
    Collusion is an agreement between two or more parties, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage.It is an agreement among firms or individuals to divide a market, set prices, limit production or limit opportunities. It can involve "wage fixing, kickbacks, or misrepresenting the independence of the relationship between the colluding parties".

    None of these things are happening here.


    Fact is, each of these events has to be looked at separately. We have been shown before that just because something looks fishy and smells fishy, it doesn't have to actually be fishy specifically because they have to be treated as separate events. That's how their fair market system works.

    Briere traded to Anaheim for a conditional pick. Legal.
    Briere bought out by Anaheim with an amnesty buyout. Legal.
    Briere is now a UFA who signs in Philadelphia. Legal.

    Unless there's a stipulation that says a player has to be on the team for a certain period of time or play a certain number of games before you can use an amnesty buyout on them, odds are this tactic is acceptable under the CBA, even if some guys make faces about it.

    And don't even get me started on things that are frowned upon by owners - Craig Leipold was one of the most vocal of the owners about how bad for the sport and bad for business these 17 year, $100 million dollar front loaded contracts are for the game, and then immediately signed two players to them, with the intent of never actually paying the full value they were written for. I have no respect whatsoever for people who raise a moral objection about something and then turn around and do it themselves.

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