Hours after trading center Jack Eichel today, the Buffalo Sabres swung a minor deal to help them stay above the salary floor, acquiring retired defenseman Johnny Boychuk from the New York Islanders in exchange for future considerations.
Boychuk, who was forced to stop playing last year because of a left eye injury, carries a $6 million cap hit.
The Sabres never dropped below the NHL’s $60.2 million floor after dishing Eichel and his $10 million cap hit. Right now, the Sabres have a projected cap hit of $67,075,275, according to capfriendly.com, and $14,424,725 in cap space.
After trading Eichel, the Sabres were about a $1.5 million above the floor, according to capfriendly.com. Adding Boychuk, of course, creates a cushion and allows the Sabres to pursue some deals without the fear of dropping below the floor.
Boychuk, 37, compiled 54 goals and 206 points in 725 career games over 14 seasons.
After the trade the #Sabres find themselves 1,565,275 above the salary cap floor but with a roster of 24.
Once someone is assigned to Rochester the Sabres will be roughly $750k to $900k above the floor.
It will be interesting to see what the club does when IR players come back.
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) November 4, 2021
