from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

The NHL’s “cap recapture” bothered me, which is why I sat down with NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly in New York last Monday, to have him explain why this concept is kosher.

Cap recapture is a punishment clause jammed into the 2013 NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement. Basically, teams that operated under the rules of the 2005 CBA are punished in the new CBA for what was an otherwise legal activity — back-diving a contract.

Wild fans might one day become all too familiar with this. If Zach Parise and/or Ryan Suter retire before their contracts expire in 2025, the Wild is in trouble.

Let’s say one retired in 2020: The team would be charged a $3.938 million salary cap penalty in each of the next five seasons. Let’s say the other retired in 2021: The Wild would be charged a $5.038 million cap penalty in each of the next four seasons. It gets much higher in 2022-25.

There are several scenarios (even if traded) that force teams to pay back the cap advantage they received if a player with this type of contract retires prematurely (see www.capgeek.com). It affects about 20 players.

continued plus more hockey topics...