NHL Teams Steer Through Salary Cap Gridlock

Adjusting to the new rules and learning the salary cap, NHL teams are dumping veterans like old Christmas trees.

Brett Hull retired in November, taking the hint when his ice time vanished. Alexander Mogilny, New Jersey's aging scorer with bad hips, will likely earn the rest of this year's $3.5 million as a minor league player.

Now the man who raised Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup has been dumped on the curb. Dave Andreychuk was placed on waivers yesterday, meaning any team can have him if it will assume his salary.

"After giving ourselves half a season to evaluate and analyze, it became clear to us that David's game was not suited to the 'new NHL,'" Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said in a press release. In other words, the 42-year-old forward is way too slow and should not have been re-signed last summer.

After clearing waivers, Andreychuk will be sent to the minor leagues, but in name only. Feaster says the former captain won't be asked to go to Springfield and ride the buses. He gets all of this year's $800,000 salary. But by technically assigning Andreychuk to the minors, Tampa saves about $330,000 against the salary cap.

An added twist: Because he has a two-year contract, Andreychuk will account for about $660,000 against the Tampa Bay cap next season, even if he formally retires and doesn't collect a penny of it.

In a previous year, the Lightning would have dialed down his ice time, "rested" him for a few games and prepared an Andreychuk retirement ceremony for June. But for an underachieving, expensive team in the salary cap era, the chance to save $330,000 right now overrides all other interests.

Postscript: Bob McKenzie of TSN has more on the quirks and details of the salary cap as it applies to old guys like Andreychuk.