The Big Unit
Registered User
- Oct 24, 2009
- 1,367
- 36
The Oilers could NOT have bought out Shawn Horcoff after the lockout ended (like Redden and Gomez).
The new rule for immediate buyouts specifically stated that the players permission was required for the immediate buyouts and Horcoff never would have given that permission.
So, the only options for Horcoff were to sit him for the year or play him.
Any discussion of buying him out after the lockout ended is not plausible and shouldn't even be debated.
That's not totally correct. Horcoff would have had to clear waivers and if he did he would have to accept the buy out or the Oilers could loan to another team (likely in Europe or the AHL) and his cap hit would be gone. This is similar to what Chicago did to Cristobal Huet.