Montreal Canadiens Need To Buy Out Karl Alzner Immediately

The Montreal Canadiens made a big splash in free agency two years ago when they signed Karl Alzner. His long-term contract has already proven to be an albatross, and there is no need to drag it out any longer.

The Montreal Canadiens thought they had signed a shutdown defender when they inked Karl Alzner in 2017. However, there were signs during his last season with the Washington Capitals that he was slowing down and that has proven to be true.

Alzner was the 5th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft. He was never a big point producer but played seven straight seasons without missing a game once he established himself as a full-time NHL player. He was a solid shutdown partner for offensive-minded defensemen like Mike Green, John Carlson and Matt Niskanen over the years.

The Burnaby, British Columbia native had played a steady game throughout his career. However, that had slipped as he approached free agency and his skating was not up to the standards of the new NHL. Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin apparently did not get that memo. He signed the then 28-year-old to a five-year contract at $4,625,000 per year.

More from Editorials

• Montreal Canadiens: Senators Rebuild At Crisis Point As Kent Hughes Moves Forward
• Montreal Canadiens: Jonathan Drouin Continues Charity Work In Montreal After Leaving Habs
• Montreal Canadiens: Laval Rocket Lineup Going To Be Must Watch
• Montreal Canadiens: Jesse Ylönen Contract Extension Analysis
• Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Prospects – #31 Quentin Miller

Alzner played all 82 games in the 2017-18 season but was a healthy scratch in this year’s season opener. That ended a lengthy ironman streak that dated back to the 2009-10 campaign. It also signalled the team was owning up to making a huge mistake when they signed Alzner.

By season’s end, Alzner had played just nine games with the Canadiens. He spent most of the season with the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League. Alzner played 34 games with the Rocket, scoring a goal and adding five helpers.

This leaves the Habs with the reality that they have an awful contract on the books for the next three seasons. With a ton of cap space currently, I’d normally suggest they just eat the money for another year and send Alzner back to Laval to mentor young blue liners, and then buy him out a year later.

However, Alzner has a signing bonus built into his contract, only in the 2020-21 season. This means the Habs are on the hook for a big cap hit that season no matter when they buy him out. You can’t buy out a bonus, meaning it will be on the salary cap whether the player is in the NHL, AHL or sitting at home counting his buyout paycheques.

If the Habs buy out Alzner this spring, his cap hit will be just $1,069,444 next season. This would save the team more than $3.5 million in cap space. His cap hit for the 2020-21 season would be $4,194,444, saving the team just about half a million. The low savings that season are due to the signing bonuses previously mentioned.

In 2021-22, Alzner would have a $2,194,444 cap hit, saving the team just about $2.5 million that season. Their punishment for saving about $6 million over those three years, the Canadiens would then have to eat a cap hit of $1,094,444 for the following three seasons.

Now, if the Canadiens were to wait another year before buying out Alzner, it would have little benefit to the team’s salary cap. First of all, they would be on the hook for his full $4.625 million next season. If he is sent to the minors, they will get a cap relief of less than a million.

Then, in 2020-21, due to the signing bonus, Alzner’s cap hit would still be $3,958,333, not even $200,000 less than if he were bought out a year earlier. The difference in savings would be almost identical for the 2021-24 seasons. The only real benefit to waiting another year is the contract would be done in 2024, and they would not have to eat a $1,094,444 cap hit in 2024-25.

So basically, if Montreal waits a year to buy out Alzner, it would cost them $3.5 million next season, just so they can save about $200,000 for the 2021-24 seasons and a little over a million in 2024-25.

It would make no sense to do that. What makes the most sense is to cut ties immediately, and use those savings along with the cap space they already have to find a more suitable left defenceman to fill in where Alzner could not.