Philadelphia’s recent termination of Ryan Johansen’s contract helped both the Flyers and Predators with cap space.
When the Preds sent Johansen to Colorado last offseason, they kept $4M of his $8M salary, but now that money is off the books. GM Barry Trotz spoke about this on 102.5 The Game after trading Yaroslav Askarov. He said, “I have to treat it as if it’s in escrow. I have to act like it’s not there until the final decision is made.”
The final decision refers to a grievance filed by Johansen’s camp, arguing his hip injury makes him too hurt to play. This injury came up after he was traded and cleared waivers in Philadelphia. An injured player can’t be bought out, so that window passed without action. The Flyers terminated his deal due to a material breach but didn’t specify what that breach was—some think it’s about when the injury was reported .
Financial Implications:
For now, Nashville has an extra $4M in cap space but isn’t spending it yet because of the pending grievance. If Johansen’s full contract gets reinstated, they don’t want to scramble for cap compliance later on. Fans might wonder why Trotz is being so cautious with these savings.
Nashville currently has just under $3.1M in cap space according to PuckPedia, counting Johansen’s deal as still on their books since that’s how Trotz plans to operate for now. Most of this will go towards re-signing RFAs Philip Tomasino and Juuso Parssinen.
Until there’s a resolution on Johansen’s situation—which could take some time—don’t expect any big moves from Nashville despite their busy summer already.
What do you think about Trotz’s strategy?
