Itd be cheaper to buy Skinner out

da F out of here. BUF ain't carrying a cap hit for 12 F years.

They arent sitting on 50% for 6

Hopefully when Ralph is fired. The new coach will hopefully put in a position to succeed.

it's better than sitting on 100% for 6

maybe, or maybe he's washed. Which is a risk I'm willing to take.

Not really, Sabres fans arent worried about him too much, his struggles are clearly a product of their coaching

Doubt Ralph gets fired, for years

you got 9 million benched for 3 straight games.....be worried.

How long will zucker be injured? Seems like a long band aid

Sabres decline

They had 6 million on the 4th line playing like a beer leaguer for 4 years now, so doesnt even phase me

lol

it won't matter penguins only have like 2 years left to do anything. They can care less of the rest of that contract.

Not really. I mean his buyout would be almost 9 million for Olofsson’s contract year with Dahlin already on his next contract and like 7 million the year Eichel is up for a new contract. That would be rough but having Matheson and retaining 50% on skinner would probably be worse. So nvm lol

see I figure they could move Matheson, especially if he plays as well there as he does for PIT. So they got 6 years of 4.5. Instead of a 12 year buyout plan or 9 mil of basic dead cap.

Aside from 2 years out of 12 it would be cheaper

There is no way they carry that cap hit for 12 years. none. Someone gonna show up to his house with a briefcase full off money talking about "your hurt" before they carry that cap hit for 12 years.

Not really because the two bad years happen in the 1st 6 years. Years 7-12 are more expensive cause you go from not having a cap hit in those years if he is traded to having dead cap hit if he’s bought out. So in reality only 4 of the 12 years of buyout are cheaper than a trade with retention.

That’s a big if though lol

you can almost always move defense. Especially in 82 game seasons. I mean he's no worse than Guddy was and he got moved all over.

Yeah but his contract wasn’t as long or expensive. And it wasn’t a flat cap world. I mean it’s possible. Especially if he keeps playing decently.

this isn't true. He got moved this summer in a flat cap world and the contract length isn't that much of a deal breaker. It's not like Guddy didn't get moved with 2 years left, he did. Yes Matheson is a little more of a cap hit, but he's a better player than Gudbranson. There is no doubt about that. The contract is reasonable value wise. Is the length long, 5 years is a bit no doubt but he's young. So the length really shouldn't be an issue. Every year he's on a team that issue gets smaller and if he keeps playing well the term is actually a benefit not a problem.
Too many teams looking for defense. That contract is more than moveable.

Again his contract wasn’t as long or expensive lol. He’s only got 1 year left of his 3 year deal that’s paying him 3 million in salary and only a 4 million cap hit compared to the 4.85 million that Matheson has as a cap hit. Got traded to a team with a ton of cap space that just needed a filler. I bet you could ask any gm other than Rutherford in the offseason, “if you had to trade for one who would you rather trade for, Gudbranson or Matheson?” Every one says Gudbranson. Because he is cheaper in salary, in cap, and a pending UFA. Only crap teams with cap space would even possibly take MM and he has an 8 team NTC that kicks in next year making it almost impossible to trade him unless he continues to play well and doesn’t revert back to a clusterf**k.
The length wouldn’t be an issue if he didn’t have a history of being terrible and coming off a few years of being terrible. I think he needs to play well for a year or so before the length of that contract isn’t as big of an issue. But right now he is realistically a 3rd pair dman making almost 5 million in cap hit. That’s not that reasonable. Considering our top LD and number 2 LD and our number 2 RD make less (and I’m talking about Marino’s next contract not his ELC).

see our views of this are totally different. 1st he's not a 3LD. He's a 2LD, the guy is playing 24 minutes a night for the penguins and he's not falling apart. One could argue that's 1LD role putting in that much time. So 4.8 for a 2LD is not really out of the ordinary as far as contract.
2nd Matheson was trade with 2 years left on that deal to the penguins. Lets forget the flat cap part for the moment. It's not the flat cap that stopped teams from spending money, it was the revenue, and by next season not only are they looking at a new TV deal but also a return of fans. So that part shouldn't be as big of a problem. There are teams with cap space who could spend more.....if they were making money, but they aren't this year. Teams that do make money were not shy. Look at MTL. One of the bigger teams in revenue. They spent.

3rd, he hasn't had multiple bad years. He's had 1 bad year. This is the second year in a row he's been turning it around. His play last year were not horrible. his 5v5 play corsi and FF were 49%, with a bad team. He was a -3 and only getting .901 save% behind him. 7 goals and 11 Apples.
That isn't a "horrible" year. Now I'm not saying it was a great year, but it wasn't a bad year either. Truth is he's a better player than you are giving him credit for here. That shows with his play in pittsburgh.
With a little bit better play around him he's got better results. As for his NTC, I don't think that's a huge issue. He might avoid a bad situation but I'm sure he's not attached to pittsburgh where he wouldn't waive it for better taxes or nicer weather.

If he was playing awful like Jack Johnson you'd have an argument on the length or amount of that contract. But his play doesn't really make that a huge issue. Teams can and will do far worse next year in FA. Defense will be hard to find. The league is thin, 6 new starting roles, and teams already desperate for defense. It's a prime market to move a defenseman who's youngish and playing well to decent regardless of the contract length. It's not like they are trying to move a guy like Vlasic.