With the amnesty buyout period upon us, some teams will have big decisions to make regarding over-earning and under-performing players. Do they stick with the player in hopes that they might make a resurgence, or do they go ahead and write a massive check and essentially pay the player to play elsewhere.
Some decisions will also be made through necessity, so that a team can operate under the Salary cap.
The first volley has already been fired, as the Philadelphia Flyers have already made Daniel Briere aware that he will be bought out once the period begins 48 hours after the Stanley Cup is awarded.
Mar 13, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center
Danny Briere(48) during warmups for their game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Here are 10 other candidates for a buyout. Some will be bought out this year, others might be bough out next summer and some might not be bought out at all. If teams can find a way through trade to unload that salary, they would go in that direction, but some contracts are untradeable.
These are not the only players that could be bought out, but the top 10 that make sense to me.