The tight NHL salary cap is causing casualties as the league approaches Saturday's start to free agency.
All-Stars, captains and playoff heroes are among the early buyouts, and some of the dead-cap hits are ugly.
Frank Seravalli @frank_seravalliBarry Trotz has clearly placed an emphasis on one thing as <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/preds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#preds</a> GM: Culture.<br><br>Matt Duchene had 3 years remaining at $8 million AAV.<br><br>His buyout calculation, per <a href="https://twitter.com/CapFriendly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CapFriendly</a>, is not pretty. For two of those seasons, there is a $5.5 and $6.5 million cap charge.
Chris Johnston @reporterchrisMatt Duchene (NSH), Mike Reilly (BOS), Blake Wheeler (WPG) and Kailer Yamamoto (DET) have been placed on unconditional waivers to be bought out before tonight's 5 p.