BREAKING: The Florida Panthers to buy out Keith Yandle
After five seasons with the Florida Panthers, the team is moving on from defenceman Keith Yandle. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Panthers are buying out the remaining two years on Yandle's contract, making him an unrestricted free agent come July 28th. Friedman adds Yandle's no movement clause means he will not have to be put on waivers before the buyout is official.
Using Capfriendly.com's buyout calculator shows the move will cost Florida a cap hit of $1.21 million for each of the next four seasons. Yandle's cap hit without the buyout is $6.35 million until the end of 2023.
Yandle, 34, signed a seven-year contract with the Panthers in 2016 after the team swung a deal with the New York Rangers for his rights just before he would become a UFA. He's had very good offensive seasons with Florida, recording 62 points (9 goals, 53 assists) in 2018-19, but his defensive play is questionable, at best. There was a huge outcry during the 2020-21 season after it appeared the Panthers would make Yandle a healthy scratch, ending the longest current iron-man streak in the NHL and the second longest in NHL history. However, Yandle ended up playing all 56 regular season games for the team. He is now 42 games away from tying Doug Jarvis for the longest iron-man streak in the league's history.
It's likely Yandle will find a new home on a team looking to add some offence on the backend. However, his next contract will almost certainly come in at a much lower cost than his current one.
