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NHL Changes Rules Around Player Performance Bonuses

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the way in which player performance bonuses will need to be paid has changed a touch.

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the way in which player performance bonuses will need to be paid has changed a touch. A light of a flat cap and what is bound to see teams struggle with fitting all the right pieces in, the NHL hasn’t eliminated the performance bonuses, but how they have to be paid out has changed.

Friedman writes, “Very interesting: Clubs that have a Performance Bonus overage from this year will have the option to evenly distribute it between 2020-21 and 2021-22 (50% each season).” In other words, teams who incur a Performance Bonus overage will be able to distribute the penalty evenly across each of the next two seasons.

While this doesn’t affect every team, this new rule does have the potential to free up some money for a few franchises.

Related: Key Dates for the NHL Moving Forward

Who Does This Help?

In Boston, the team had around $2.5 million in player bonuses that could, $1.75 of which could go to Zdeno Chara based on games played and playoff performances. If he hits them all, Boston can spread out his $1.75 million in two payments of $875K.

In Edmonton, can do something similar with Mike Smith who will receive bonuses for games played and could hit more bonuses if he’s used heavily in the playoffs and the Oilers do well.

In Dallas, Corey Perry gets a good chunk of money for playing 57 games this season and could get more in the playoffs. They can spread out potentially $1.5 million and they are a team near the top of the cap ceiling.

Most teams have little-to-no performance bonuses to worry about, but for teams who employed some older players on one-year contracts, these performance bonuses played a big role in their respective seasons.

Related: CBA Eliminates Free Agent Interview Period

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