According to a report from Elliotte Friedman, NHL owners — though increasingly concerned at the financial implications of the league's current shutdown state — are steadfastly against compliance buyouts.
These amnesty buyouts let NHL teams cut players without their contracts counting against the salary cap but those players have to be paid two-thirds of their salary over twice the length of time left on their deal. As NHL owners look to mitigate costs now and in the future in the face of these uncertain times, the idea of compliance buyouts is not a popular one.
The league is still working on solutions but one proposed by player agent Kurt Overhardt in Friedman's piece stands out:
Unlike a compliance buyout, it’s not punitive. It doesn’t have to be used, and if it does there should be an equal luxury tax payment to everyone who doesn’t use one. There is willingness to dump all over it, but I like this idea instead of hurting teams that draft and develop star players who are getting paid more money earlier than ever. We need creative solutions.
With the salary cap possibly not moving in either direction anytime soon, NHL (and AHL) franchises will have to work together to find an answer to their conundrum.
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