Is A Parise Buyout Really A Bad Thing?

Team: 2018-19 Minnesota Wild

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 6, 2018

Published: Mar. 8, 2018

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Moving forward, Parise is nothing more than a high-end third line grinder. With a lack of inexpensive, high-impact talent on the roster, his contract is now burdensome. Most Wild fans are hoping for an amnesty buyout in 2020, which may not be an option, and any injury that would force him into "retirement" on LTIR is less than ideal for a team that is usually tight against the cap limit.
If The Wild were to buyout Parise's contract this summer, the cap hit the next four seasons would be $253K, $253K, $1.253mil and $3.253mil, respectively. That's a lot of freed up cap space to add more productive players to play with the "young core" in their prime years. The window is wide open for the next four years.
The pain arrives in 2022-23. Parise's cap hit rises to $7.253mil, $8.253mil and $8.253mil, respectively, for the next three seasons. Coupled with the "young core" entering their 30s, it's the right time to sell, tank and rebuild.
In 2025-26 the Wild have re-stocked and are ready to compete. Parise is still on the books for another seven years, but at $1.7mil his cap hit should account for less than 2% of the payroll.
I'm sure the last thing Wild owner Craig Leipold wants to do is pay Parise $24mil to not play, but if he wants to win a Cup there may not be a better option.