The NHL’s first buyout window is now officially open and will run through Sunday, just before the market opens to free agency.

How much of a buyout charge a team gets depends on the player’s age.

If a player younger than 26 is bought out, the amount will be one-third of the remaining contract value, but if they are 26 or older the buyout amount will be two-thirds of the remaining value.

According to CapFriendly, here is how a buyout can be calculated:

1. Multiply the remaining salary (excluding signing bonuses) by the buyout amount (as determined by age) to obtain the total buyout cost.

2. Spread the total buyout cost evenly over twice the remaining contract years.

3. Determine the savings by subtracting the annual buyout cost from Step 2 by the player’s salary (excluding signing bonuses).

4. Determine the remaining cap hit by subtracting the savings from Step 3 by the player’s Annual Average Salary (AAV) (including signing bonuses).

There will be a second buyout window later this summer, but those will only be allowed for teams that have one or more players file for arbitration. And the only contracts that would be eligible to be bought out in that second window would be ones with a cap hit greater than $4 million.

Here you’ll find the latest players who have been bought out, including the details of why and what the remaining cap impact is on their former teams.

CAM ATKINSON, PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Contract status at time of buyout: One year, $5.875 million cap hit

Notes: A long-time Columbus Blue Jacket and one-time 41-goal scorer for the team, Cam Atkinson was traded to Philadelphia on Day 2 of the 2021 draft in exchange for Jakub Voracek. In his first year with the Flyers, Atkinson scored 23 goals in 73 games, however a neck injury forced him to miss the entire 2022-23 season. This past season, Atkinson scored 13 times in 70 games and was made a healthy scratch on occasion. Now, the Flyers decided to buy out the final season of his contract, saving just over $3.5 million against the cap and making the 35-year-old an unrestricted free agent.

RYAN SUTER, DALLAS STARS
Contract status at time of buyout: One year, $3.65 million cap hit

Notes: A huge minute muncher for much of his career, Suter averaged 18:56 for the Stars in 2023-24 and fell to the third pair. The 39-year-old joins a short list of players who have been bought out twice, joining Tony DeAngelo. Suter had previously been bought out by the Minnesota Wild in 2021, a charge that is still on their books today.

The Philadelphia Flyers made a surprising move this offseason by buying out the contract of veteran forward Cam Atkinson. The decision to buy out Atkinson’s contract comes as a bit of a shock to many fans and analysts, as he has been a consistent and productive player for the Flyers over the past few seasons.

Atkinson, who was acquired by the Flyers in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets last year, had two years remaining on his contract with an annual cap hit of $5.875 million. The buyout will save the Flyers $2.375 million in cap space for the upcoming season, but will also result in a cap hit of $1.25 million for the following two seasons.

The decision to buy out Atkinson’s contract was likely made in order to free up cap space for the Flyers to make other moves in free agency or via trade. With the NHL salary cap remaining flat for the foreseeable future due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams are looking for ways to shed salary in order to stay under the cap.

Atkinson, who is 32 years old, is coming off a season in which he scored 15 goals and 13 assists in 56 games for the Flyers. While those numbers are respectable, they are not quite up to the level of production that Atkinson has shown in previous seasons. The Flyers likely felt that they could find a younger and more cost-effective replacement for Atkinson in order to improve their roster.

Overall, the buyout of Cam Atkinson’s contract by the Philadelphia Flyers is a move that will save them some cap space in the short term, but will also come with some long-term consequences in terms of cap hits. It will be interesting to see how the Flyers use the extra cap space that they have created by buying out Atkinson’s contract, and whether or not they are able to improve their roster as a result.