NHL Rumors: 9 Potential Buyout Candidates Named

In addition to free agency and trade decisions for teams to make around the NHL over the next couple of weeks, there's a long list of potential buyout candidates that will take some serious consideration for front offices. Daily Faceoff's Frank Servalli has released his list of the nine most likely potential buyout candidates, and there are a couple of big names.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, LA Kings
Jack Campbell, Edmonton Oilers
Barclay Goodrow, NY Rangers
Joonas Korpisalo, Ottawa Senators
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, NY Islanders
Torey Krug, St. Louis Blues
Cal Peterson, Philadelphia Flyers
Cam Atkinson, Philadelphia Flyers
Ryan Suter, Dallas Stars

Although it would be a tough pill to swallow in LA, Seravalli says he would "absolutely" buy out Dubois if he were the Kings. With seven years left on PLD's deal with an $8.5 million cap hit, it won't be cheap, but after the disastrous season for Dubois in LA this past year, it might be time to draw the curtain on his Hollywood story.

One other big name here is Krug, who has three seasons at $6.5 million left on his contract. The Blues tried to trade the d-man last offseason at Draft time, but Krug exercised his no-trade clause to veto the trade to Philadelphia. That threw a huge wrench into GM Doug Armstrong's plans last summer, and he may still be fuming over it, leading to Krug's inclusion as a potential buyout candidate.

Krug's defense has taken a precipitous decline in the past two years, as he compiled a minus-31 rating this past season and minus-26 the year before. Nevertheless, there was enough of a track record from his days with the Boston Bruins that, should that contract not be in the way any longer, the 33-year-old would get plenty of interested suitors if the Blues cut the cord.

Seravalli also feels the Rangers just have to bite the bullet on Goodrow, who has three years and $3.64 million left on his contract. "You just can't pay your fourth line center $4 million bucks. You just can't."

It might also make sense for the Senators to get out from under the four more years at $5 million for Korpisalo. They're already spending this offseason desperately looking for a new starting goaltender. Can you really pay a backup $5 million?

For Pageau, who has two seasons left at a $5 million cap hit, Seravalli feels that there's still some trade value there, so the Islanders will at least try that avenue first.

As for the Flyers' two, they each have just one season left at $5 million, so it might not make sense to prolong the pain by going the buyout route with them. Just tough it out for this one more season.