Alright, so if one wants to get crazy with this OEL thing, here's an idea
Here's OEL's contract structure for the next few years (
link):
SEASON | CLAUSE | CAP HIT | AAV | P. BONUSES | S. BONUSES | BASE SALARY | TOTAL SALARY | MINORS SALARY |
2019-20 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $0 | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
2020-21 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
2021-22 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $0 | $10,500,000 | $10,500,000 | $10,500,000 |
2022-23 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $5,250,000 | $5,250,000 | $10,500,000 | $10,500,000 |
2023-24 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $0 | $10,500,000 | $10,500,000 | $10,500,000 |
2024-25 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $0 | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
2025-26 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $0 | $5,250,000 | $5,250,000 | $5,250,000 |
2026-27 | NMC | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $0 | $0 | $5,250,000 | $5,250,000 | $5,250,000 |
TOTAL | | $66,000,000 | $66,000,000 | $0 | $9,250,000 | $56,750,000 | $66,000,000 | $66,000,000 |
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In terms of real money, next year is the one where it jumps from $8m to $10.5m. Allegedly it's these next 3 years at $10.5m that the Coyotes really want to avoid, and that makes a lot of sense.
Unfortunately, in addition to his full NMC, OEL hasn't been playing up to his cap hit. So he's drastically narrowed the list of teams, and those teams don't necessarily have a lot of space to be committing to long term deals like this. In order to grease the wheels, Arizona is (allegedly) willing to retain substantial cap here... as long as it's saving them real money.
How do they do that? The proposal from the Bruins board (which I think makes sense) is that the acquiring team pays for the next 3 years, and the Yotes pay for the last 3. That's 38% retention, which brings his cap hit down to $5.15m, and saves Arizona piles of real cash over the next 3 years.
It still doesn't make sense to me for the Wild to acquire him... unless we could send back Parise with the agreement that Arizona buys him out. This allows Parise to sign elsewhere, which is what he probably wants, and (hopefully) avoids recapture penalties for Minnesota. It would saddle Arizona with some dead cap for a few years, but let's again assume that it's really the real money they care about:
Parise's buyout:
SEASON | INITIAL BASE SALARY | INITIAL CAP HIT | SIGNING BONUS | BUYOUT COST | POST-BUYOUT EARNINGS | SAVINGS | CAP HIT (MIN) |
2021-22 | $6,000,000 | $7,538,461 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | $5,166,667 | $2,371,794 |
2022-23 | $2,000,000 | $7,538,461 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | $1,166,667 | $6,371,794 |
2023-24 | $1,000,000 | $7,538,461 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | $166,667 | $7,371,794 |
2024-25 | $1,000,000 | $7,538,461 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | $166,667 | $7,371,794 |
2025-26 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | -$833,333 | $833,333 |
2026-27 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | -$833,333 | $833,333 |
2027-28 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | -$833,333 | $833,333 |
2028-29 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $833,333 | $833,333 | -$833,333 | $833,333 |
TOTAL | $10,000,000 | $30,153,844 | $0 | $6,666,667 | $6,666,667 | $3,333,333 | $26,820,508 |
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So it would cost about $6.67m in actual cash, which is still $24.83m less than the next 3 years of OEL's contract. Plus, unless I'm misunderstanding the rules here, that $6.67m is spread out over 8 years, which makes this a lot more comfortable if they're primarily worried about the next 3-5. Arizona does take a lot of dead cap coming back, especially from 2022-2025, but if they're looking to run a leaner ship and rebuild a little that might not be a big deal.
Now obviously this ridiculous deal isn't just OEL for Parise straight across. OEL retained down to $5.15m seems like an okay cap hit to me and would probably be worth something on the open market... except that he has that NMC and will only waive for 4 teams, so we're not looking at an open market. I honestly don't have any clue what the rest of this trade would look like or if what I have above is even viable... but I'm getting punchy enough with Parise that I'm willing to get creative.