Not saying the Cup Finals are over at 2-1 Bruins, but you had to know, after the Leafs let a team come back from 4-1 down with 11 minutes remaining in Game 7, that team would go on to win the Cup, right? Right. Of course.
The pain will soon be over and off-season activity will follow very shortly thereafter. Should the Stanley Cup Finals go seven games, the Entry Draft will take place a mere four days later. The delayed, compacted schedule and the lowering of the salary cap means that under a week after winning the Cup, the Bruins or Hawks could be buying out players and focusing on drafting for the future.
The compliance buyout period, and any accompanying trade activity, will begin 48-hours after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals and conclude on July 4 at 11:59 p.m. (eve of free agency). It will produce an interesting new group of names for the free agent pool. More intriguing is the possibility of trading buyouts, something a team like the Leafs would be a prime candidate to capitalize on. Most of the rumours sound right out of rosterbation fantasy land, but the possibility of acquiring a buyout candidate is something the Leafs‘ own Claude Loiselle lent credence to in a recent radio interview. At the very least, it’s being discussed.
Free agency follows on July 5.
The fun starts soon.
(Note: The Joffrey Lupul player review will be up later on today).
Links:
Recap: Bruins take game 3.
From yesterday – my analysis on Clarke MacArthur vs. David Clarkson.
Steve Dangle weighs in on Clarkson here.
Cam Charron wonders about Daniel Briere to the Leafs, as Briere is all but guaranteed to become a bought-out free agent.
SkinnyFish argues the belief that Carlyle’s system pushed shots to the perimeter is a myth.
Yep, Briere and Bryzgalov will get bought out so the Flyers can fit in 35-year-old Mark Streit’s 4 year, $5.25 million contract on the cap… can’t make this stuff up.
