First Buyout Window Opens Tomorrow- Should The Edmonton Oilers Use it?

The NHL’s first buyout window opens tomorrow and ends June 30th. Is there anyone the Edmonton Oilers should buyout in this timeframe?

The start of the buyout period is a chance for teams to give themselves some cap relief no but it gives them dead cap space in years in which the contract would have ended initially. For example, the Edmonton Oilers bought out James Neal in 2021. It saved them almost $3 million a year, but now it is costing them almost $2 million.

When it comes to buyouts teams need to factor in how much they save now versus how much it costs them in the later years. CapFriendly has a buyout calculator where you can choose a player to buyout and it does all the work for you.

I went through and took a look at some of the Edmonton Oilers that the Oilers may look at buying out. For the reason of either too much money for what they provide to this team.

Cody Ceci

Right now Cody Ceci has a cap hit of $3.25 million. For a top pairing defenceman that isn’t so bad of a cap hit. That is only if he can bring his game back up to where it was two years ago. There is no doubt that Ceci had a bad season last year which makes his $3.25 million hit look bad.

If the Edmonton Oilers would buy him out it would save them $3,166,667 this season and $2,166,667 next season. After that, they would have two seasons of $1,333,333 of dead cap. I don’t think the Edmonton Oilers will buy him out.

If Ceci can have a bounce-back season then his original cap hit will once again be a good deal.

Kailer Yamamoto

Kailer Yamamoto‘s current cap hit is $3,100,000. Just like in the case of Cody Ceci, Yamamoto had a rough season last year. Health was a big reason for this. Unfortunately for Yamamoto with his small size injuries may just be something he comes with.

To buy out Yamamoto the Edmonton Oilers would save $2,666,666 in cap space this season. They would only have $533,334 of dead cap hit next season. This is a buyout I could actually see the Edmonton Oilers doing.

Is An Edmonton Oilers Buyout A Smart Play

The thing is buying a player out just to buy him out gains you nothing. You need to use that space created to bring in a player that is an upgrade. Yes, the gain cap space is very valuable, but the main goal is to make your team better.

If you buy out Yamamoto or Ceci, but they bring in a player that is worse than them, you gain nothing. Right now I don’t know if there are any better options than those players in that price range available for free agency.

This is why I think when it comes to the end of this buyout period that the Edmonton Oilers will have not bought anyone out. The risk/reward just isn’t there for this team, especially in the winning window they are in.