Thanks for laying it out so clearly and comprehensively.
I'll admit I missed the 1/3 vs. 2/3 thing.
I'm not much of a CBA/capologist so I appreciate the tutorial!
Still not sure how much of a market there is out there for him, and I assume he'll only sign a one-way contract given his reluctance to go to Grand Rapids.
I'd think that most teams have a prospect or player 23 and younger that has similar or better potential and/or on-ice results than Zadina.
Is it even worth picking him up to stash him on your 4th line? He has a funny skillset that doesn't seem to lend itself to bottom six play.
No problem! I don't consider myself a true capologist or CBA connoisseur either, but I do find a lot of elements that go into contracts, player movement and team transactions super interesting so I try to keep up with some of the details regarding the salary cap and this just happened to be one of the things that I knew about.
I'm also unsure about Zadina's market and I agree that his actions indicate that he wants a 1-way to avoid playing in the AHL.
If i had to speculate, I feel like there has to be a few teams out there willing to give him a one year deal somewhere between league minimum and $1.0M. He might have to be open to some less attractive destinations and/or bottom-feeders, but I think a team will take a chance and give him a shot based on his draft pedigree.
I wouldn't say that he's awful or a liability when on the ice, he's a high effort player, decent defensively and has produced generally at a 25-30 point pace over a full 82 games. His overwhelming issue is that his production is a far far cry from the hype and expectations that came with where he was drafted. I think he can still become an effective player, but it looks like his offensive skills won't come close to what they were projected to be.
Second buyout window , if have an arbitration case, not sure if they do.
Buyouts in the second window can only happen to players with a cap hit of $4.0M or more. Zadina wouldn't be eligible whether the Wings have an arbitration case or not. It's also why it's still possible with Matt Murray and the Leafs, for example.
Detroit missed the deadline to buyout Zadina this year, they'll only get another chance next offseason to buy out the last year of his contract if he were still on their roster. Since they did not buy him out prior to June 30th, they were locked in to pay him $1.83M this season if it were not for the mutual contract termination.
