CBA Question: What is the cap hit for a player who retires after receiving July 1 signing bonus?

[rojac]

This is a theoretical question but I am using John Tavares as an example simply because his contract matches the needs of my scenario. I am not implying that John Tavares is going to retire nor am I suggesting that he should retire. I was just curious about a theoretical contract situation and think better using specifics.

For the 2024-25 season, John Tavares will receive a signing bonus of $7,040,000 on July 1st and a regular salary of $910,000. His cap hit will be $11,000,000.
Now, suppose John decides to retire.

If he were to retire tomorrow (June 30), he gets no signing bonus and no salary and his cap hit is $0, That's pretty straightforward. But what if he decides to wait?

On Monday (July 1), he receives his signing bonus. Then, on Tuesday (July 2), he retires. It's clear he receives no salary but what would his cap hit be? Would it be $0? Would it be $11,000,000. Something else?

Again, this is a theoretical discussion about cap hits for players who retire after receiving their signing bonus. It is not a discussion about whether or not Tavares should or will retire.

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[Voight]

I think if he retired that soon after getting the bonus, the Leafs would request he return some if not all of it to them.

There's been players in other sports that retired after receiving signing bonuses and they've had to give some of it back.

Calvin Johnson retired while still having term left on his contract with the Detroit Lions and they made him pay $1.6 million back.

NFL teams are legally allowed to recoup the prorated portion of a retiring players' signing bonus, which for Johnson could have amounted to as much as $3.2 million.

 

[StreetHawk]

An NHL season begins on July 1 to June 30. So, logically, if you get a SB, it is meant to be an early payment for your performance for the upcoming season. if you get your SB in July, but the season does not begin until October, and you opt to return in the summer, then the player has not rendered any services for that play.

So, fully expect the team to come back and get that money, otherwise, it stands to reason that the team would get charged a cap hit for that SB that they allow the player to keep.