The Ducks are expected to buy out the contract of defenseman Simon Despres, whose time with the team was impacted heavily by multiple concussions.

Signed to a five-year contract extension worth $18.5 million before the 2015-16 season, Despres was put on waivers for the purpose of the buyout. The Ducks will be paying Despres for the next eight seasons but will be on the hook for only one-third of the $15.9 million left on his deal.

“Simon Despres is a good hockey player and a good person,” Ducks general manager Bob Murray said. “But, at this point in time, we feel it is in the best interests of both Simon and the organization to part ways. We wish him the very best in the future.”

Injured players aren’t eligible for buyouts but some maneuvering appears to have allowed the Ducks to do so on Despres despite him being sidelined for all but one game last season. Despres was taken off long-term injured reserve during the playoffs but never skated in a practice with the team.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the workings of an agreement with the NHL players’ union to the Southern California News Group.

“There have been a number of unique aspects related to Mr. Despres’ situation and we and the Players’ Association have worked together to help define the appropriate collectively bargained rules that can be applied to his contract,” Daly wrote in an e-mail. “We now have a conceptual agreement on treatment and we are in the process of documenting that resolution.”

The union has apparently signed off on it, with NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon saying, “The NHLPA is engaged in settlement discussions with the NHL regarding Simon Despres contract and the parties hope to have this matter resolved soon.”

Despres said this on his Twitter account, “I’d like to thank the @AnaheimDucks for a wonderful 2 and a half years. I wish my teammates all the best moving forward #withoutwax.” Without wax is a saying derived from two Latin words, meaning sincere.

The window for teams buying out players began Friday. Most have them paying the player two-thirds of their money owed over twice the length of the remaining years on his deal. NHL buyout rules, however, allow for teams to buy out players under 26 years of age at one-third of the remaining amount.

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Expansion Vegas Golden Knights join Pacific Division rivals on Ducks’ exhibition schedule Despres doesn’t turn 26 until July 27. Instead of a $3.7 million salary cap hit, the Ducks will be charged with a $1,262,500 hit in 2017-18, according to capfriendly.com. They’ll also see a savings of $337,500 the following two seasons before getting charged with $667,500 for seasons 2021-22 through 2024-25.

It is a huge difference for the budget-conscious Ducks, who typically don’t like to go the buyout route but will pay out $5.3 million instead of $10.6 million for a player whose future in the NHL is clouded. Concussion symptoms resurfaced for Despres after a hit in the 2016-17 season opener at Dallas.

Despres did not play in another game with the team. He did attend some home games and began to do some light skating before practices during the playoffs, in addition to regularly being evaluated and examined by the team. But the once-promising defender was not close to playing.

Despres was rewarded with the extension after a strong performance in the Ducks’ run to the 2015 Western Conference finals following his acquisition from Pittsburgh. A concussion resulting from an illegal high hit by Colorado’s Tyson Barrie early in the 2015-16 season would shelve him for 42 games.

It became clear that Despres wasn’t the same player afterward. He missed more time because of a head injury suffered during a March 2016 game at Montreal and struggled during the subsequent first-round playoff loss to Nashville.

Despres pronounced himself fit for 2016-17 after a summer of visiting multiple specialists and was ready for a new start, even changing his number from 24 to 6. He felt he had overcome his concussions, which he said left him very sensitive to light and noise.

“I had headaches,” Despres said during training camp last September. “Dizziness. Close to fainting. Stuff like that. … It was a challenge. It was dangerous.”

The cap savings triggered by the buyout puts the Ducks in a better position to sign cornerstone defenseman Cam Fowler to a long-term contract extension. Fowler cannot do so until July 1 as he isn’t a free agent until next summer.

But the signs have long been apparent that locking up Fowler is high priority for the Ducks, who are currently in talks with Fowler’s camp. The defender expressed in March to the Southern California News Group his confidence in a long-term deal getting done sooner than later.