The NHL has recently experienced an unusual trend: an increase in players choosing to forgo guaranteed contracts that still owe them millions to find a playing situation that better suits them. This process involves the player clearing standard waivers with the team anticipating they\u2019ll refuse to report to their AHL affiliate, creating a breach of contract that allows the team to place the player on unconditional waivers, before ultimately finalizing the contract termination.<\/p>\n
Last year, Brandon Saad<\/a> did this by walking away from the remaining year and a half of his deal<\/a> and over $3MM in salary. This summer, forward Conor Sheary<\/a> followed suit, foregoing the final year of his contract<\/a> and saving the Lightning $1.5MM. Just a few weeks ago, Maple Leafs forward David K\u00e4mpf<\/a> also stepped back, forfeiting over $2MM in salary<\/a>. More recently, Alexandre Texier<\/a> left the Blues<\/a> and signed with the Canadiens for roughly half his previous salary<\/a>. In effect, all these players essentially halved their earnings to find situations better suited to them, raising the question: who might be the next player to break their current contract?<\/p>\n Dozens, if not hundreds, of players under NHL contracts could be described as unhappy with their playing time. However, most, if not all, would be satisfied with the current NHL paychecks they receive. Players such as Ryan Graves<\/a>, Tristan Jarry<\/a>, and Ville Husso<\/a> will not be included for purposes of this article. While they are veterans who have earned good money in their NHL careers, they are still early in their lucrative new deals, and they have spent time in the AHL over the last calendar year. This piece will focus on players in a unique position regarding their contracts who might be willing to walk away from guaranteed money if they can\u2019t be moved via trade or waivers.<\/p>\n Penguins forward Philip Tomasino<\/a> is the top name on the list and has already been made available<\/a> to every NHL team this month after he was placed on waivers by the Penguins and eventually assigned to the minors after passing through. Signed to a one-year, $1.75MM deal last offseason<\/a>, many fans were surprised when the Penguins non-tendered him<\/a> in the summer, only to re-sign him to that one-year pact.<\/p>\n The move kept his salary lower, but Tomasino has still failed to provide any value to Pittsburgh this season, with just one assist in nine NHL games. Tomasino also started slowly last year with Nashville, posting a single assist in his first 11 games before a midseason trade to Pittsburgh<\/a> sparked a turnaround. Hence, a comeback isn\u2019t out of the question.<\/p>\n Clearly, passing on waivers showed a complete lack of interest in Tomasino at his current price, but at league minimum, teams might be more willing to take a shot. However, the chances of that happening seem low, as the Penguins likely aren\u2019t keen to use up a salary retention slot on him, and Tomasino likely doesn\u2019t want to leave the highest salary he\u2019s earned in his NHL career. There\u2019s always a possibility that the Mississauga, Ontario native stays in the AHL for the rest of the season, but given his six points in three AHL games, he might find a way to work his way back to the NHL, just like teammates Graves and Jarry did over the past year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Next up is a player who is nearly 10 years older than Tomasino: defenseman Erik Gustafsson<\/a> of the Red Wings. Like Tomasino, Gustafsson is in the final year of his contract and trying to maintain his NHL career, but that is where many similarities end. Gustafsson is a ten-year NHL veteran nearing the end of his playing career, whereas Tomasino is just beginning his.<\/p>\n Not so long ago, Gustafsson was regarded as a capable third-pairing defenseman. Many praised the Red Wings for signing him to a two-year, $4MM contract<\/a> in July 2024. That deal proved to be ill-fated. Gustafsson\u2019s play declined last season, especially on the offensive side. His puck handling was sloppy, and he wasn\u2019t the same contributor as in previous years.<\/p>\n This poor performance led to a demotion this season, with the 33-year-old playing most of his games in the AHL<\/a> with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Credit to Gustafsson for stepping up and performing well in the AHL, but it does raise questions about whether he will finish the year in Detroit. The Wings might consider trading him or putting him on waivers (again<\/a>), but given his recent play and salary, that seems unlikely.<\/p>\n Another factor in Gustafsson\u2019s situation is the fact that he\u2019s made $2MM or more in just three NHL seasons. One of these was the shortened 2020-21 season, which had a 56-game schedule, meaning Gustafsson\u2019s $3MM AAV<\/a> effectively amounted to a $2MM salary that year. This income would have been subject to deferrals<\/a>, escrow, agent fees, and taxes, so Gustafsson actually received less than half of it. Aside from that, Gustafsson is nearing the end of his career and has earned somewhere in the range of $10MM-$12MM (gross income<\/a>), so he probably isn\u2019t willing to walk away from $1.5MM without at least the promise of another contract elsewhere.<\/p>\n Another Detroit defenseman who might seem like a contender is Justin Holl<\/a>, who is also 33 years old and in the final year of his contract. Holl signed a three-year, $10.4MM deal with the Red Wings in July 2023<\/a>, but that contract has proven to be poor value for Detroit. Like Gustafsson, Holl was a turnover machine last season and has ended up in the AHL<\/a> this year. The signing never made much sense from the start, as Holl has always been a fairly average defenseman, and not the type you rush to overpay on July 1, which is precisely what Detroit did.<\/p>\n Holl is probably still an NHL defenseman and could likely find a role if he didn\u2019t have a $3.4MM price tag attached. However, to move him, Detroit would probably need to include an asset and retain salary. Since he\u2019s a pending UFA, they won\u2019t go through the trouble. Considering he has earned over $15MM in his career, you would think Holl might be inclined to leave his contract early if given the chance. Still, it seems unlikely because this is probably his last big NHL payday, and he can wait until summer to sign a two-way deal for league minimum.<\/p>\n Another player to consider is Oilers winger Max Jones<\/a>. Jones was acquired last season<\/a> from the Bruins and played 19 games down the stretch, but didn\u2019t contribute much with just a goal and an assist. Jones can skate and hit; beyond that, his abilities are pretty limited. He is in the second year of a two-year, $2MM deal,<\/a> and since he\u2019s earning one-way money, it\u2019s unlikely he would walk away from it to pursue another job. Jones has spent the entire season in the AHL after passing through waivers in October<\/a>, and he\u2019s probably best served to ride out his current contract and hope for a promotion to the NHL. The 27-year-old is lucky to have time on his side and can look for a two-way contract in the off-season, but if he chooses to opt out, he\u2019ll likely find a two-way league minimum deal that puts him in the same position he\u2019s in now, just wearing a different jersey.<\/p>\n Other players who might consider terminating their contracts soon include Jets forward Tanner Pearson<\/a>. Pearson has been receiving fourth-line minutes in Winnipeg and has faced challenging assignments in that role. He\u2019s got just three goals and an assist in 23 games this season. However, with a $1MM salary, he might choose to stay the course and play the hand he\u2019s been dealt. It\u2019s unlikely that Pearson would find a team willing to give him a top-nine role at this stage of his career, so he\u2019s probably best advised to stay in Winnipeg under contract.<\/p>\n Another possibility could be\u00a0Oilers goaltender\u00a0Connor Ingram<\/a>, but his play in the AHL this season has been atrocious, with a 3-3-2 record and a .873 SV%. Ingram is making $1.95MM in the final year of his deal and is probably best served continuing to cash his cheques and trying to improve his game to get back to the NHL. Ingram is also in a position with the Oilers where it might be his best route back to an NHL lineup, given the issues Edmonton\u2019s goaltending has faced this year.<\/p>\n A few final names of players who could be contenders to terminate their current contracts mutually include defensemen Daniil Miromanov<\/a> of the Flames and Kyle Burroughs<\/a> of the Kings, as well as forward Carl Grundstr\u00f6m<\/a> of the Flyers. These three players are in the final years of their deals, earning over $1MM this season, and are currently playing in the AHL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL has recently experienced an unusual trend: an increase in players choosing to forgo guaranteed contracts that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,50808,742,453,105410,105411,143762,448,131854,753,2368,82,143763,449],"class_list":["post-325529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-connor-ingram","tag-detroit-red-wings","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-erik-gustafsson","tag-justin-holl","tag-max-jones","tag-nhl","tag-philip-tomasino","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals","tag-sports","tag-tanner-pearson","tag-winnipeg-jets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}