Didn't the ducks just buy him out? Parises due another 10m, I don't think he walks away from that

I thought it was mutual but didn't pay attention. You're probably right. So basically it's becuase of the money they wouldn't do it

He’s due 6M, 2, 1, 1 over the next 4 years in actual salary. If they mutually term, he walks away from it. I’ve speculated that it’s more plausible next year when he will have received 94 of his original 98. Walking away from 4 instead of 10. Still, it’s hard to envision him terminating, when he holds so many cards.

I’m not sure on the recapture penalties. I’ve had ppl tell me they’re certain that the wild get hit if he retires early, and others say they’re certain there are no penalties in a mutual term. I tried looking in the CBA but didn’t find anything explicit. So can’t advise on that.

@futurehofer just did a great review of this with me on another thread and set me straight on the topic. It's here:

https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/474288?post_id=2489714

Recapture still hits you on mutual termination. I was incorrect before, see above.

It's in Article 50.5(d)(ii)(B) of the 2013 CBA:

"For any period during which the Player under a Long-Term Contract is no longer playing in the League during the term of that Long-Term Contract by reason of retirement, "defection" from the NHL or otherwise (but not death) (such that he is not playing and is not receiving Salary pursuant to that Long-Term Contract), an amount attributable to that Player shall nonetheless continue to be included in his Club's Averaged Club Salary as described below.

(1) Upon that Player's failure to play in the League by reason of retirement, "defection" from the NHL or otherwise (but not death) (such that he is not playing and is not receiving Salary pursuant to his Long-Term Contract) (assuming it is prior to the conclusion of the Long-Term Contract), the difference between the sum of the Actual Salary and Bonuses received by that Player under that SPC and the sum of the Averaged Amounts charged against the Club's Averaged Club Salary under that SPC shall be calculated as follows:"

In other words, if he stops receiving a paycheck from this contract for any reason other than death, there's a recapture penalty involved. Playing out the contract, going on LTIR, or being bought out are the only ways to directly avoid a recapture penalty. Keep in mind though that the buyout takes into account the structure of the contract so you end up paying the buyout salary plus the recapture penalty via the buyout cap hits. The buyout for Parise would cost $26,820,508 against the cap while the recapture penalty would cost $20.154 million and the buyout salary is $6,666,667.

Edit: Sorry, didn't see that you had already liked the comment in the other thread. Either way, maybe this will help someone else too.

This is so good. Thanks guys! Kudos for doing the research and sharing.