CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Whoever takes over as the Penguins' general manager has a mess to clean up in regards to the salary cap.
Some fixes are harder than others.
One that is nearly impossible is what to do about Jeff Carter and his contract that has one year left at a $3.125 million cap hit.
Carter's contract has a full no-movement clause, which means he can't be traded or waived and sent down to the minors without his consent. His contract is also front-loaded in its salary structure, which makes it a true 35+ contract. That means that there's zero cap relief to be gained at all if he retires or is bought out by the Penguins. His entire $3.125 million cap hit would become dead cap, and dead cap can't be traded. They'd be stuck with that.
At 38 years old, Carter is slowing down. His role was already reduced to that of a fourth-line center toward the end of this season. Maybe if a Stanley Cup contender came calling about Carter, he would be willing to waive his no-movement clause to play there. But it's hard to imagine that any contender sees Carter as its missing piece.
There's a pretty good chance that Carter and his cap hit will remain with the Penguins next season, if only because of the limited options to unload it.
But ...
There's a possible solution that could get the Penguins free from Carter's cap hit for next season. And no, it doesn't involve cheating and stashing him on long-term injured reserve.
Carter would have to want to retire, first. Whether he wants to play next season or not isn't clear right now. If he does retire, he'd be walking away from the $3 million left in salary that he is owed next season.
If Carter retires now, the Penguins would be on the hook for the $3.125 million of his cap hit as previously stated. But if Carter wants to retire, and wants to do the Penguins as a favor on his way out, he could waive his no-movement clause, get moved to a bottom-feeder team that has ample cap space this summer, then retire.
The acquiring team would be in on the plan, obviously. They could get compensation from the Penguins in the form of a draft pick or multiple picks, if needed.
Which of the NHL's 32 teams would do such a thing?
The Arizona Coyotes.
Some of the best players in Coyotes history are Pavel Datsyuk, Marian Hossa, Chris Pronger and Shea Weber. Not a single one of them ever suited up for a game for the Coyotes.
After acquiring Shea Weber’s cap hit from Vegas, he joins the famous Coyotes Legends Society 🌵 pic.twitter.com/2xZSA78HyJ
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 24, 2023
The rebuilding Coyotes have become the NHL's home for players who are done playing but still have money left on the books. Since the Coyotes aren't competing for a Stanley Cup anytime soon, and aren't going to be up against the salary cap ceiling, they can afford to take on some dead cap if another team make it worth their while. And since they are a young rebuilding team, draft picks make the dead cap worth their while.
If Carter wants to retire, he could inform the Penguins of his plan to do so, waive his no-movement clause, get shipped off to Arizona along with a draft pick, and then officially retire. The Penguins would free up $3.125 million in cap space, and the Coyotes would end up with another pick and another name to add to their hall of salary cap shenanigans fame.
Obviously, if Carter doesn't wan't to retire, this is all moot. But it's certainly something to consider. All hope isn't lost here.
