Options for reducing cap hits of the Burakovsky and Grubauer contracts
Here's a table showing each option the Kraken have to deal with Burakovsky ($5.5M) and Gurbauer's ($5.9M) combined $11.4M cap hit with the savings compared to doing nothing and keeping them on the NHL roster. I kept both contracts together for the purpose of simplicity, but the Kraken could of course mix and match by, for example, buying one player out and trading the other with 50% retained.
| Year | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary Cap | $95.5M | $104M | $113.5M | >$113.5M? |
| Keep in NHL | $11.4M | $11.4M | ||
| savings | 0 | 0 | ||
| Waive to AHL | $9.1M | $9.1M | ||
| savings | $2.3M | $2.3M | ||
| Trade w/ 25% retained | $2.85M | $2.85M | ||
| savings | $8.55M | $8.55M | ||
| Trade w/ 50% retained | $5.7M | $5.7M | ||
| savings | $5.7M | $5.7M | ||
| Buyout | $3.9M | $6.3M | $3.1M | $3.1M |
| savings | $7.5M | $5.1M | -$3.1M | -$3.1M |
Note 1: Retirement, mutual contract termination, and trade without salary retention not listed as they are unlikely but would completely remove the cap hit.
Note 2: Buyouts also reduce the actual cash owed to each player, which may be attractive if ownership wants to save some real dollars.
edit: fixed some bad math