There is a current misconception floating around that the Penguins will be going into the 2015-16 season and moving forward in 'salary cap hell.' This is generally untrue, due to two circumstances:

Even with both of these reasons clearing salary, it still makes more sense for the Penguins to buy out the remainder of the contract of Rob Scuderi, to clear even more cap space, as well as open roster space for the young players moving forward.

Scuderi's contract carries a $3.375 million cap hit for two more seasons.

Buying him out would cost the Penguins money against the cap for four years, but it's something that can be done, with the combination of playing the kids on the ELC's.

Scuderi's Buyout Costs

If the Penguins were to buy out Rob Scuderi, it would cost the Penguins against the salary cap, the following amounts for the next four seasons, using the standard 2/3 the dollars remaining on the deal for double the number of years left on the contract:

2015-16 $1,290,000 2016-17 $1,790,000 2017-18 $917,000 2018-19 $917,000

War on Ice has a user-friendly buyout calculator that can be accessed for every player to determine the amount of cost again the salary cap, should a team decide to buy out the contract of a player. Here is the breakdown as follows:

Seeing what the buyout would cost the Penguins, and whether it's something feasible they can do are two different conversations. Lets take a look at the ramifications if they decided to do it, and where it would leave the Penguins in regard to the salary cap.

Implications of a Buyout

For me, the most common sense way to look at the scenario is to compare how the defense looks now (as well as its respective cap hit) and what it would look like in the future if they pursued a buyout:

Current Defense Makeup (When Healthy) Cap Hit Kris Letang $7,250,000 Paul Martin $5,000,000 Christian Ehrhoff $4,000,000 Ben Lovejoy $1,133,000 Ian Cole $825,000 Rob Scuderi $3,375,000 Total $21,583,000

Now, if we look forward at what the Penguins defense would/could look like, including the dead money cap hit from the buyout, in comparison to the current:

Potential Future Defense Makeup Cap Hit Kris Letang $7,250,000 Ben Lovejoy $1,133,000 Olli Maatta $925,000 Ian Cole (with RFA pay increase) $1,250,000 Derrick Pouliot $925,000 Scott Harrington $618,000 Rob Scuderi Buyout AAV $1,290,000 Total $13,391,000

Comparing the two scenarios, including a buyout, as well as Ehrhoff and Martin coming off the books, the Penguins could potentially save almost $8 million on the cap going into next season. Of course, the cap hit from the buyout would increase an extra $700,000 for the 2016-17 season, before dropping to $900,000 for two years. The salaries of players like Maatta and Harrington will obviously increase when they come to the end of their ELC's. I wouldn't expect Ben Lovejoy to remain on the team after next season. When you have skilled and talented players on Entry Level Contracts, you need to utilize and play them to provide yourself a little relief to construct the rest of your roster.

I feel that the flexibility the Penguins have with the young defensemen and their ELC's, they can afford to buy out Scuderi's contract, and have the dead money on the blue line. The difference in savings between letting Martin and Ehrhoff walk will give them more money to spend to bolster the forward depth, or give them flexibility to make trades, whichever they could/would want to do.

The one true variable that we don't have the answer to is whether the Penguins would buy out Scuderi. His veteran presence on the team speaks for itself. Also, the Penguins do not come off as a team that makes 'bad faith' kind of moves. However, the current management regime did not sign this contract, Ray Shero did.

Time will tell whether the Penguins think about doing it and actually do it, but I think there is more flexibility to do it than there may initially appear to be, due to the perception that the Penguins are in 'salary cap hell.'