5 players who could fall victim to a buyout

As the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators prepare for the Stanley Cup Final, 28 other teams are putting their offseason plans into place.

That means buyouts and an opportunity to restructure by ridding of mistakes from summers past. The window opens 48 hours after the conclusion of the playoffs and runs until the end of June.

For the not-so-low cost of two thirds of a player's remaining salary spread over twice the term left on his contract, a team can clear the deck of its unwanted. Here are five players who could face that reality this offseason:

Dan Girardi

The New York Rangers blue-liner would be the most expensive buyout of the bunch, as his deal runs for another three seasons and carries $13 million in owed salary, including $3 million in signing bonuses.

For a team that seeks a puck-moving defenseman unlike Girardi on its right side, clearing out the 33-year-old would alleviate the dollars to add that piece. New York could be in the mix for Kevin Shattenkirk this summer, should he reach free agency, or the team could re-sign Brendan Smith, acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at this year's trade deadline.

The Rangers are no stranger to buyouts, having previously used one-time compliance buyouts on former defenseman Wade Redden and center Brad Richards, who were paid to go away in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The buyout:

Scott Hartnell

Evidence of Hartnell's time with the Columbus Blue Jackets running thin was seen in the postseason, when the veteran winger was scratched for Game 4 against the Penguins, and as he was held off the scoresheet in the four games he was in the lineup.

While he finished 2017-18 with just 37 points in 78 games - his lowest full-season finish in more than a decade - the 35-year-old Hartnell can still be a valuable addition for most clubs. What complicates his future in Columbus is the coming expansion draft, when the Vegas Golden Knights will pry a player from each of the 30 teams.

As Hartnell holds a no-movement clause, the rules state he must be protected, unless approached by the Blue Jackets to waive that right. Doing so would allow Columbus to protect another young player up front, like William Karlsson or Boone Jenner. But as there is no guarantee Hartnell would agree to that maneuver, and potentially risk being claimed by an expansion team, the best bet for the Blue Jackets could be to buy out the remaining two years of Hartnell's $4.75 million-a-year contract.

The buyout:

Jaroslav Halak

The math doesn't work. After losing the New York Islanders' top job last season to Thomas Greiss - who recently signed a three-year extension with the club - there is surely an unwillingness to pay big dollars for Halak to sit on the bench. Or as he did this season, star in the minors in Bridgeport.

While the 32-year-old Halak has fallen out of favor in Brooklyn, he put together a late showing as the team's top performer following his recall from the minors in late March, in which he went 6-1 in seven games and allowed just 11 goals in the process. It was nearly enough to push New York into the postseason, only to miss by a single point. Couple that performance with how Halak fared with Team Europe at last summer's World Cup and he should have some suitors calling this offseason.

Moving on from Halak would also open a full-time backup gig for Jean-Francois Berube, who the organization has thought highly of over the past two seasons but has been unable to provide him with proper playing time. A pending unrestricted free agent, Berube needs a new contract to stick around with the Islanders.

The buyout:

Antti Niemi

If the writing was not on the wall following a disastrous season, the picture became clearer when the Dallas Stars brought in Ben Bishop.

Now with three big-ticket goalies under contract in Bishop, Niemi, and Kari Lehtonen, the odds are the Stars will clear away their three-headed monster in the crease by sending a buyout to Niemi. That move comes at a cheaper rate than dumping Lehtonen - which isn't saying much about how his season fared. Together, the two combined for an NHL-worst .893 save percentage.

Niemi, 33, has just one year remaining on his contract, so a buyout would come with a reasonable penalty that came off the books following the 2018-19 campaign.

The buyout:

Kevin Bieksa

Anaheim Ducks coach Randy Carlyle is a big fan of Bieksa. The problem is the 35-year-old is caught in a numbers game, both in terms of the expansion draft and in the many blue-liners, like Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour, coming up through the system in Anaheim.

Like Hartnell, Bieksa holds a no-movement clause that requires protection in the expansion draft. But could the Ducks approach the veteran defender to do his club a solid? Waiving his no-movement clause would open up another protection slot for the Ducks, whether they choose to use it on a youngster like Josh Manson or a key forward like Rickard Rakell or Jakob Silfverberg.

However, if Bieksa is unwilling to waive his contractual right, Anaheim may have no choice but to issue a buyout to Bieksa, who would then be made available to test the waters as an unrestricted free agent.

The buyout:

(h/t - CapFriendly)

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)