This Friday, June 16, the NHL teams will officially be able to announce the planned contract buyouts. Many Montreal Canadiens fans hope to see Kent Hughes use this strategy to get rid of unwanted players.
By playing along, we see that buying out Hoffman would allow the Canadiens to save $3.33M next season. However, the Canadiens would have to cut their payroll by $1.66M the following season, in 2024-2025.
It seems, according to what the excellent Arpon Basu reports, that the Canadiens will not use this strategy due to the residual that would constrain them in 2024-2025. Kent Hughes would prefer to avoid dead contracts, so the option of buyouts, no matter the player, would be avoided.
However, Kent Hughes would be very open to trading the veteran forward, even if it means keeping half his salary, as this money would not be in his way in 2024-2025. Basu does not believe this will happen, because in his view, Hoffman has not produced enough in recent years to justify such a transaction, even at reduced costs. He will need to score goals and prove his worth at the start of the next campaign for this trade project to occur.
In 134 games in the Canadiens' uniform, Hoffman has accumulated 29 goals, 40 assists for a total of 69 points. He never surpassed the mark of 15 goals in a season, even though he had accustomed his bosses since his entry into the NHL to seasons of at least 22 goals and more.
