NHL gives Jackets extra time to reach salary floor

Johnny Gaudreau’s contract in Columbus came to an end following his tragic death.

The NHL told the Blue Jackets they had to find a solution to meet the NHL salary floor before the season started, or face penalties.

But the league came around and finally decided to grant special permission to Don Waddell and the Jackets’ management group.

The information was shared by Aaron Portzline, who covers the club’s activities for The Ahtletic.

That said, here’s what you need to know: the NHL and the Players’ Association have granted the Jackets an extension to give them time to reach the floor, but the Jackets still need to be able to do so “within a reasonable timeframe”.

Also, note that a $2 million signing bonus (which was paid to Gaudreau on July 1) will be counted against the Blue Jackets’ salary cap for the 24-25 season.

It’s all very well to say that the NHL sometimes makes questionable decisions, but this is really well done:

1. #CBJ made a $2M signing bonus to Johnny Gaudreau in July, as per his contract. That money will be included in their salary cap figure.

2. The league is waiving the Oct. 7 deadline to reach the floor of $65M, with the expectation they’ll get there in a “reasonable time.”
2/4

– Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) October 1, 2024

The NHL is a business and every team must follow the league’s rules.

Except that sometimes situations get out of hand, and Johnny Gaudreau’s falls into that category.

Hats off to the management for putting the financial aspect aside for a moment to give Don Waddell and the Jackets some breathing room.

The club’s GM will now have less need to look for ways to add salary to his squad, and with the players who will be placed in the waivers between now and the start of the campaign, it will help him navigate through all this.

In closing, according to Aaron Portzline, the Jackets should now be $1.4M under the $65M cap. Again, Don Waddell shouldn’t have too much trouble closing the gap.

Overtime

– Waivers today :

Waivers today:
Meyer (ANA)
Dunne, Jobst, Murray, Poolman, Rathbone, Sandstrom (BUF)
Solovyov (CAL)
Delia, Gleason, Kemp, Pederson (EDM)
Moverare (LA)
Johnson (MIN)
Blidh, Domingue, Fitzgerald, Scanlin (NYR)
Biro, McCormick, Meyers, Olofsson, Stezka (SEA) DiGiuseppe, Patera,…

– Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 1, 2024

– Brad Marchand isn’t worried about Swayman.

Brad Marchand on Jeremy Swayman’s absence: “This is part of the game, it’s part of the business. It’s a part that nobody enjoys. Eventually a deal is gonna get done and everybody is gonna move on and be fine.”

– Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) October 1, 2024

– Habs alum makes his mark in the KHL:

Welcome to the KHL, Chris Tierney pic.twitter.com/8zC0jeGUIl

– KHL (@khl_eng) October 1, 2024