My pal Michigan Mike tipped me off to this report from The Fourth Period, and I genuinely don’t know what to do with it as 3 AM approaches. According to TFP, the New York Islanders are trying to move 36-year-old defenseman Johnny Boychuk and his $6 million cap hit for the 20-21 and 21-22 seasons, and, somehow, the Red Wings are involved.
According to David Pagnotta and the TFP staff, the Islanders are going to use at least one of the 2nd-round picks they got from the Avs in exchange for Devon Toews on Monday, with the Isles looking to clear more cap room, and this is where things get weird:
Boychuk, 36, has two-years left on his contract and owns an eight-team trade clause. While his cap hit is $6 million, there is $5.25 million in salary that remains to be paid out, $1.25 million this season and $4 million next season – a $2.75 million bonus was paid out to Boychuk in July.
It is unclear what, if anything, the Islanders will receive back in exchange for Boychuk, or which team will be acquiring him. The Islanders are not expected to retain any part of Boychuk’s contract.
The Detroit Red Wings are among the teams the Islanders have spoken with in regards to Boychuk, though it’s not yet known if a deal has been struck between these two clubs or if the Islanders are working on a trade with another team.
Now CapFriendly estimates that the Red Wings have $18.738 million in cap space left, with Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi left to re-sign, but the Red Wings have seven signed NHL defensemen (Filip Hronek and Marc Staal included), so I don’t see where this move makes any roster sense whatsoever.
Are the Red Wings being mentioned simply because they have so much cap space? Or does Steve Yzerman have something planned that we don’t know about?
Whether this rumor has teeth will be determined soon. All I can do is encourage you to approach it with caution.
