The New Jersey Devils exercised the first of their two compliance buyouts last summer when they parted ways with goaltender Johan Hedberg, but it looks like Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is content to let the second buyout expire.
“It’s unlikely,” Lamoriello told the Star-Ledger, regarding the possibility of buying out a player. “No decisions have been made yet. We still have time on our side, but it’s unlikely.”
If the Devils were to use it, it would likely be to get out of the final two seasons of defenseman Anton Volchenkov’s six-year, $25.5 million contract. The defensive defenseman has seen his role with New Jersey reduced in recent years to the point where he averaged just 16:47 minutes per game in 2013-14.
The Devils have roughly $59.3 million in cap space committed to 17 players next season, per Cap Geek, and don’t have any costly free agents to re-sign, so they can afford to keep Volchenkov.