Before Tuesday, the buyout period of the NHL offseason was kind of boring. The Ottawa Senators buying out Bobby Ryan and the Penguins buying out Jack Johnson were a little bit spicy, but other than that, nothing unexpected. Everyone knew Henrik Lundqvist was getting bought out too.
Some general managers must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, because teams are buying out players on the same day of the 2020 NHL Draft.
I’m going to take a look at Tuesday’s buyouts and see if there are any useful players among them.
Red Wings Buy Out Justin Abdelkader
This one was a tad bit surprising, but still expected. The Detroit Red Wings needed to create a roster spot for their young players and having Justin Abdelkader $4.25 million cap hit on the fourth line made no sense.
Abdelkader is no longer a very useful player. He wasn’t good enough to get consistent playing time on a historically bad Red Wings team, so it’s hard to see him making positive contributions anywhere. Despite what Damien Cox might think, no, the Leafs shouldn’t sign him.
Canadiens Buyout Karl Alzner
To be honest, I’m sort of surprised it took the Montreal Canadiens this long to buyout Karl Alzner. They signed him back in 2017 and he has been buried in the AHL since the start of the 2018-19 season.
It was finally financially feasible for the Canadines to buy out Alzner. This season isn’t too pretty, but it gets better after that.
Alzner’s days as a regular NHL player are probably over. I could see a team signing him for defensive depth, though. But Alzner better be ready to ride the buses of the AHL for the rest of his career.