Top 3 Buyout Candidates for 2026 Offseason

The first buyout window of the 2026 NHL offseason opens today, June 17, and there could be quite a few names to hit unconditional waivers over the next 13 days.

While a buyout can often give a team a lower cap hit with the player gone, sometimes a big contract is not a sensible one to buy out. Here are the top three players to keep an eye on while the buyout window is open.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Carolina Hurricanes

Current Contract: 4 more seasons at $4.82 million

Buyout Penalty:
2026-27 – $850,833
2027-28 – $470,833
2028-29 – $470,833
2029-30 – $470,833
2030-31 – $850,833
2031-32 – $850,833
2032-33 – $850,833
2033-34 – $850,833

If the Carolina Hurricanes were to buy out Jesperi Kotkaniemi‘s contract, they would be paying him until the 2034 offseason. That is a tough pill to swallow, but with the way the salary is rising, the sub-$1 million cap penalty will be fairly negligible soon.

Kotkaniemi is still just 25 years old; therefore, the buyout penalty would be much lower than if they did it next offseason, where they would have a $1.733 million cap penalty for the next six seasons.

There could be a trade market for Kotkaniemi, as he is still a young centre who has good defensive upside. Obviously, he fell out of favour in Carolina, but there would be a job for him on plenty of teams if he were available.

After being selected third overall in 2018, Kotkaniemi kicked off his career with the Montreal Canadiens before signing an offer sheet with the Hurricanes. They inked him to his eight-year extension, which has ended up being a very rare blunder from the Hurricanes’ front office.

Brendan Gallagher, Montreal Canadiens

Current Contract: 1 more season as $6.5 million

Buyout Penalty:
2026-26 – $3,833,333
2027-28 – $1,333,333

After the Canadiens were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Brendan Gallagher spoke to the media, and after an emotional conversation about his time with Montreal, he stated, “There have been ups and downs, but I don’t have a single regret. It’s pretty clear I’ll be kind of moving on here.”

Whether that takes shape in the form of a buyout or a trade, Gallagher’s days with the Canadiens seem to be over.

If the Canadiens do opt to buy out his contract, their $2.7 million in savings could be helpful next season, and the $1.3 million cap hit for the following season is manageable. I don’t think many will deny how beloved he is, and the impact that Gallagher has had on the organization, but it is time to move on.

A trade is possible here. The Vancouver Canucks have been mentioned as a possible destination, whether it be with some salary retained by Montreal in a deal, or if they sign him as a free agent.

The 34-year-old winger made a career out of being a pesky net-front presence and being a bother to all of his opponents. He has never been the flashiest player or competing in any scoring races, but his seven-goal showing through 2025-26 just wasn’t good enough. By playoff time, Gallagher served as a healthy scratch in all but three games.

Ondrej Palat, New York Islanders

Current Contract: 1 more season at $4.95 million

Buyout Penalty:
2026-27 – $2,700,000
2027-28 – $1,650,000

The New York Islanders don’t have the most complicated cap situation across the league, and with more than enough space to bring back their current free agents, any decision regarding money will be looking at getting better, not staying as they are.

There are quite a few candidates to be bought out, and we could see the Islanders do more than one. With Ondrej Palat making nearly $5 million for one more season, he would be the most likely candidate, but Scott Mayfield, Pierre Engvall, and, to an extent, Anthony Duclair.

With Mayfield, the team is already fairly thin on the right side, and while Mayfield hasn’t lived up to his big extension, he is still serviceable. For Engvall, his season was over before it even started after suffering an injury in the preseason. He struggled throughout 2024-25, but could bounce back under new head coach Pete DeBoer.

There were talks about a Duclair trade earlier in the season, which he shut down with his no-trade clause, but this offseason, it turns to a 16-team no-trade clause. The Islanders may want to move off of him, but they have a bit more flexibility now, and Duclair is still a tradable player at $3.5 million.

Back to Palat – he struggled with the Islanders, and when given a lesser role, struggled even more. He recorded just five points across 29 games in 2025-26, and a buyout could make a lot of sense for the Islanders, though holding onto him for one more season wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Buyout-Proof Contracts

Some may look around the league and say that there are worse contracts than the three above, which would be correct, but players are getting structure on their contracts that discourage buyouts. While it is still possible, a player like Jonathan Huberdeau, for example, would still have a cap penalty of $10.3 million for three of the next five seasons.

Darnell Nurse, who has requested a trade, makes a lot of money. A buyout might seem like the solution for some, but when looking at the breakdown, they would still have a cap penalty of over $8 million for three of the next four seasons.

General managers need to be very wise when it comes to what contracts are bought out. Making the decision before a player turns 26, if possible, is the best way to do things. After that, they may have their hands tied depending on the way the contract is formatted.

*buyout calculations via PuckPedia