With potential buyouts on the horizon in the NHL, one name out of Dallas has made a few insider lists. Veteran defenseman Ryan Suter might be a casualty of the Stars’ offseason planning, as the blueliner has two more seasons at a cost of $3.65 million per season on his deal.
Should the Stars buy out Suter’s contract, they would be on the hook for two seasons at $733,333, followed by two seasons at $1,433,333.
Frank Seravalli writes, “There is a heavy dose of recency bias here, but if it happens, Suter would become the first player in the NHL’s salary cap era to be bought out twice. The Wild are paying him $833,333 until 2029. Suter’s four-year term in Dallas never really made sense given that he was 36 at the time. His game noticeably dropped in the playoffs, making him a liability for the Stars.” He adds that going the buyout route would save the Stars nearly $3 million per season and in the two seasons where his hit jumps, the salary cap will have also increased.
And, while Suter didn’t play particularly well in the playoffs, he still played north of 20 minutes a night in the regular season. That could become an attractive option for teams, especially if he’s comfortable in a lesser role on a contender. So too, if he’s willing to take a team-friendly deal (he’d be getting paid twice by two other teams already), why would he not sign for the league minimum or around $1 million?
Of course, this is all speculation as Seravalli writes, “Don’t hold your breath on this one, but the possibility can’t be dismissed out of hand.”
Meanwhile, Elliotte Friedman wonders if there’s a real possibility of this happening Dallas. He noted during his 32 Thoughts podcast on Wednesday, “If you take a look at his contract, to buy it out it’s not expensive. It’s four more years and it’s just under $800k for the first two years and about $1.5 million for the last two years. I wonder if they think about it.”
Both scribes did ask an important question that the Stars will have to answer. They correctly pointed out that Suter is a guy who played a lot of minutes and he was Miro Heiskanen’s partner. What are you doing there, how are you replacing those minutes?”
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