Canucks won’t net any cap relief with Luongo’s new role in Florida
Vancouver still on hook for retired goalie, who is now a Panthers special adviser
Elias Pettersson will pocket a mammoth payday when his entry level contract expires following the 2020-21 NHL season. So will Quinn Hughes.
In attempting to find a salary cap solution to lock up the budding stars long term, any additional financial strains — like little return on Loui Eriksson’s considerable contract that has two more seasons after this campaign at US$6 million annually — can be crippling.
It’s also why the latest news regarding Roberto Luongo is having another ripple effect in Vancouver.
The former Canucks goaltender has been named a special adviser to Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon. It means the retired stopper is going to be paid and the Canucks are wondering what this means in a cap-recapture scenario that affects the team’s future planning.
Luongo announced his retirement June 26 with three years remaining on his 12-year, $64-million contract. The 40-year-old Montreal native, who was battling injuries, left $3.2 million in actual salary on the table. And instead of going on long-term injured reserve, he left the Canucks and Panthers in a cap-recapture bind.
The Canucks are on the hook for $3.03 million annually over three seasons and the Panthers took a $1.03-million hit. It’s why Canucks general manager Jim Benning is seeking some clarity. He’s paying Luongo not to play and now the former Vancouver employee is recouping lost salary by going to work for Tallon.
Shouldn’t there be a mechanism to reduce the recapture penalty if a retired player returns to the workforce, especially for the club he left? Benning spoke with the NHL hierarchy, but didn’t get anywhere.
“I wanted to voice our displeasure with the whole thing,” Benning said Thursday morning. “Our concern was that if Roberto was to retire and left money on the table, if the team hired him, he’s going to recoup his money. They (the Panthers) are allowed to do that as long as the position they hired him for is at market level at an entry-level salary for a comparable position in the league.
“We exhausted all of our avenues with the league and at the end of the day, the rules are the rules. Even if he works for the team, we were told as long as it’s fair market value, he’s allowed to do that.” What’s comparable?
“I don’t know what he’s getting paid,” added Benning. “Is it a $200,000 or $300,000 position? And even if you give him $1 million, that’s how he recoups his money. Our concern was that he is retired and left that money on the table.
Was he just going to walk away or go work for the team? And how does that translate into the whole equation?
“The way the wording is set up in the CBA, that cap recapture still counts on our cap, even if he goes to work for the team.”