And have Alzner on our cap for 6 years ? Great idea...

That does suck doesn't it. Ok keep him for 3 years then.

Buying him out next year makes more sense.

exaclty...or 5 years (if we buying him out next offseason). Buying out Alzner right now makes no sense + we are not all in for the cup (and their is 6m cap space still free if a trade at the deadline becomes an option).

Did you check the buyout calculator? He's essentially buyout proof. Even if you buried him in the minors the next 2 seasons it's still better than buying him out this year or next. (not that you could buy him out this year since the window has closed)

Only thing you can do is trade him for another bad contract.

There is no big fish to chase on the free agent market anymore, so no need to buyout him. In two years, when KK, Poehling, Gally and Danault become FA, then we might need cap space and so we'll decide by then.

I wouldn't say buyout proof. If Alzner stays healthy and there's no way of actually trading him without giving a 1st + or whatever, buying him out next season or in 2021 is still a possibility that's digestible.

MTLs biggest contract management year in recent history will be 2021. It's the year of the Seattle expansion draft + major contract renewals will be due to A LOT of roster players. (Gallagher, Danault, Kotkaniemi, Poehling, Tatar, Petry, Lehkonen, Armia, and a few more.)
So the year you want to save the most cap from Alzner's contract has to be in 2021. (next year with only Domi, Mete, and Juulsen to worry about, Habs could still afford Alzner at a sizable cap hit.)

Here are the options imo with dealing with Alzner:
Keeping Alzner in the minors for the rest of his deal (until 2022) still has MTL absorbing $3.55mil in salary cap per year, saving them roughly $1mil in cap space a season.

Buying Alzner out next season (2020) would give a cap savings of $2.7mil in the 2021 season. the only negative of doing this is the $4mil cap hit next season, but that's almost the same as the $3.55mil cap hit MTL would already have for just keeping him in the minors. other than that, it would cost MTL about 800k for 2 more seasons after 2021, but if the cap is tight at that point, it would only cost MTL from keeping a depth player at most, so no biggie.

Buying Alzner out in 2021 would give a cap savings in 2021 of about $2.3mil, with a cap hit of $1.2mil the following year, but that's it after 2022.


So if Habs are looking for the most cap flexibility in 2021, buying him out next season makes the most sense. but a buyout in 2021 is still doable.

Plz habs fan read this if you have 30 second the guy is right 100%. I like the fact that you project in 2 years (not a lot of fan/media are doing it...#gardinerfor6m)