NHL’s 2023 buyout window to run from June 16-30

With the 2022-23 NHL season now done and dusted, the league’s buyout window is set to begin on Friday, June 16.

Starting on Friday, teams can buy out the remaining years of a player’s contract to help free up some extra cap space. Teams have until 5:00 PM ET on June 30 – the day before the start of free agency – to buy out players.

Last year, a total of seven players were bought out: Ottawa’s Colin White and Michael Del Zotto, Chicago’s Brett Connolly and Henrik Borgstrom, New Jersey’s Janne Kuokkanen, Philadelphia’s Oskar Lindblom and San Jose’s Rudolfs Balcers. All had one bought-out years remaining, except for White, who had three.

According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto is the summer’s top buyout candidate. He has one more year at $3.1 million on his deal, with a buyout penalty of $433,334 and $533,334 over two years. Other options include Boston’s Mike Reilly, Pittsburgh’s Mikael Granlund, Washington’s Anthony Mantha and Dallas’ Ryan Suter.

If Dallas was to cut ties with Suter, he would become the first player in the NHL’s salary cap era to be bought out twice. The Wild bought him out back in 2021, and are paying him $833,333 until 2029. If the Stars were to buy him out, they’d receive a penalty of $733,333 in each of the next two seasons, before suffering a $1.43 million hit the following two years.

The NHL’s salary cap isn’t set in stone yet for 2023-24. The ceiling is currently $82.5 million, but is expected to increase by $1 million for next year. There’s also a chance that the NHL and the NHLPA can come to an agreement on a larger increase instead.

Buying out a player gives them the freedom to sign anywhere once the July 1 window opens up. Full details on the NHL’s buyout period can be found on CapFriendly here.