Could Ondrej Palat be a potential buyout candidate this summer?

As we near the completion of the Stanley Cup Final, the offseason looms as teams will try make all the right roster adjustments ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season. When it comes to player acquisition, the upcoming class of unrestricted free agents is relatively uninspiring, while the trade market is shaping up to be rather interesting.

There is at least one other pool teams could look to dip into when searching for roster upgrades: the buyout market. Sometimes a team will buy a player out of his contract when in need of cap relief, and that player could still be a useful addition for another team in the league. One noteworthy player who could find himself available after a buyout is veteran forward Ondre Palat, who was acquired by the New York Islanders from the New Jersey Devils in January.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk discussed the possibility of Palat getting bought out by the Islanders.

Tyler Yaremchuk: One year, $6 million is (Palat’s) remaining hit. They’d save $3.3 million this year and it’s a $1.65 million penalty the year after that for the Islanders. That would take them from $10.6 million to right around $14 million cap space. They don’t have a ton to do this summer, if I’m being honest. They have six defensemen signed, they have two goalies signed, they have 13 forwards signed. Anders Lee, who is apparently going to market, is really the only significant name they have to take care of. They have young players coming up, whether it’s Cole Eiserman or (Victor) Eklund or whoever, those are guys who can take spots in your lineup next year.

I think they just might not buy him out because they don’t need the cap space. They can probably make their summer work at $10.6 million. Now, you can say “Why wouldn’t you buy out Palat and have some cap space for the trade deadline?” If you get to the deadline and you’re working with a rebuilding team on a trade, you just make part of the deal that they have to take Palat’s money. Maybe they just feel that they don’t need add on that year of dead cap space if they don’t have to.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Friday’s episode here…