As the Stanley Cup Final draws closer, fanbases start turning their attention towards the impending off-season moves of their favorite teams. The spotlight is currently on the Dallas Stars, who are nursing their wounds after their defeat in the Western Conference Final to the Vegas Golden Knights, losing in six games. Elliotte Friedman hints at one Dallas player who is poised to be a prime buyout target this summer.
38-year-old Ryan Suter, at the tail end of his career, has a cap hit of $3.65 million, as recorded by CapFriendly. The Minnesota Wild had bought him out in 2021, nullifying the remaining term of his gargantuan 13-year contract signed in 2012, with an annual average value (AAV) of over $7.5 million.
In light of his underwhelming performances in this season's playoffs, Suter's potential buyout becomes a plausible scenario. Despite a certain portion of his salary being retained by the Stars, the buyout could result in almost $3 million in savings for the team for the first two years (reducing the cap hit to just below $800,000). However, the cap hit would increase to $1.5 million for the last two years. Interestingly, no player in the salary cap era has ever been bought out twice.
