[Trade] Leafs trade David Clarkson to Blue Jackets for Nathan Horton

[mister__big]

Columbus ownership must be doing cartwheels after getting rid of Horton. His contract is for $37 million and he had only played 36 games for them - that's over $1 million per game if he had remained a Blue Jacket until retirement.

[savemedrzaius]

Both players signed in the 2013 offseason

Horton 36 games played 5 14 19

Clarkson 118 games played 15 11 26

[Tinordi]

The trade is budget relief for cap relief.

Interesting deal, have we seen something like this before?

[It's a great day 4 hockey]

Glad Calgary didn't get in on this. All this talk of how great it would be to get a high pick for 26.1 million is insane imo. If you want to improve your team with 26.1 million put it into scouting.

[GioforPM]

I know it frees cap space, but since the Leafs do still have to actually pay the salary (it's uninsured) basically they are preferring to pay a guy to do nothing than to pay Clarkson to play.

Media is speculating as to whether this and the other recent moves are Nonis' or if he is just signing papers for Shanahan's moves.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

The trade is budget relief for cap relief.

Interesting deal, have we seen something like this before?

Honestly, I don't believe we've ever seen a move like this before.

Correct me if I'm wrong but in previous CBA's you couldn't trade long term injured players.

I'm wondering if this clears the way for the Blue Jackets to buy him out in the off season, which makes all kinds of sense. They would save money by being able to pay out over a longer term, and get a reduced cap hit.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I know it frees cap space, but since the Leafs do still have to actually pay the salary (it's uninsured) basically they are preferring to pay a guy to do nothing than to pay Clarkson to play.

Media is speculating as to whether this and the other recent moves are Nonis' or if he is just signing papers for Shanahan's moves.

Yeah but the Leafs get his cap relief, which makes sense.

Its just weird that the BJ's didn't push for some kind of salary relief for doing the Leafs a pretty massive solid.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Honestly, I don't believe we've ever seen a move like this before.

Correct me if I'm wrong but in previous CBA's you couldn't trade long term injured players.

I'm wondering if this clears the way for the Blue Jackets to buy him out in the off season, which makes all kinds of sense. They would save money by being able to pay out over a longer term, and get a reduced cap hit.

That is always a possibility, but it sounds to me like they think he can be a better player. Overpaid for sure, but they could get something out of him. I don't think he is a Heatly or Seto just yet.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah but the Leafs get his cap relief, which makes sense.

Its just weird that the BJ's didn't push for some kind of salary relief for doing the Leafs a pretty massive solid.

Oh, I know it makes sense from a cap relief point of view. But that just means the Leafs are going to sign another player, pay him the bucks Clarkson was getting, and still pay Horton not to play.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah but the Leafs get his cap relief, which makes sense.

Its just weird that the BJ's didn't push for some kind of salary relief for doing the Leafs a pretty massive solid.

They did - they got 2 free roster players for what they were paying Horton anyway

[Gaudfather]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah but the Leafs get his cap relief, which makes sense.

Its just weird that the BJ's didn't push for some kind of salary relief for doing the Leafs a pretty massive solid.

The Blue Jackets hadn't insured Horton's contract and just couldn't stomach paying a non-roster player $6 million a year. For the Leafs freeing up cap space was more important than the monetary drag.

[You Need a Thneed]

Assuming this is the last transaction ever involving Horton, By the end of the contract, Horton will have been a Maple Leaf longer then any other team.

[jlh2640]

Man how or why did the Blue Jackets agree to this

[Poe969]

read the thread, the Jackets didn't have insurance on Horton so they were going to have to pay him his full salary to stay home. This way they pay someone to actually play and hopefully be the guy he was before going to the leafs. The leafs just bought more cap space.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

They did - they got 2 free roster players for what they were paying Horton anyway

I think there's a bit of a misconception here. Horton's cap hit is 5.3 and Clarkson's is 5.25. Both have roughly 28M left on their deal for a little bit over 5 years. The contracts are near negligible. I think there's a couple assuming Horton has a higher contract.

Of note, Horton's contract can't be bought out because of LTIR but Clarkson's contract is structured in such a way that a buyout may be near pointless. His base salary is actually only a million a year, however, he receives a large signing bonuses each year. Depending on the exact wording of the contract, only the salary portion could be bought out and he would still be guaranteed his signing bonuses.

But really worst case scenario, assuming Horton is done, is Columbus is still better off. Even if they do buyout Clarkson this summer and up paying him whatever 20M+, it's still a slightly better scenario than paying Horton. If Clarkson is able to bounce back at all, it becomes a very solid move.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

I think there's a bit of a misconception here. Horton's cap hit is 5.3 and Clarkson's is 5.25. Both have roughly 28M left on their deal for a little bit over 5 years. The contracts are near negligible. I think there's a couple assuming Horton has a higher contract.

Of note, Horton's contract can't be bought out because of LTIR but Clarkson's contract is structured in such a way that a buyout may be near pointless. His base salary is actually only a million a year, however, he receives a large signing bonuses each year. Depending on the exact wording of the contract, only the salary portion could be bought out and he would still be guaranteed his signing bonuses.

But really worst case scenario, assuming Horton is done, is Columbus is still better off. Even if they do buyout Clarkson this summer and up paying him whatever 20M+, it's still a slightly better scenario than paying Horton. If Clarkson is able to bounce back at all, it becomes a very solid move.

Horton's salary is $6M. Columbus doesn't spend to the cap and the cap isn't their issue. $$$ are their issue.

For $6M, they can pay Clarkson and another player. That's 2 bodies on a 23 man roster.

Fans are entirely focused on cap hits now instead of money, which is fine in Canadian markets where teams will spend whatever it takes.

But in many markets where they are on a budget, it is money, not cap hit, that matters.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Horton's salary is $6M. Columbus doesn't spend to the cap and the cap isn't their issue. $$$ are their issue.

For $6M, they can pay Clarkson and another player. That's 2 bodies on a 23 man roster.

Fans are entirely focused on cap hits now instead of money, which is fine in Canadian markets where teams will spend whatever it takes.

But in many markets where they are on a budget, it is money, not cap hit, that matters.

I was talking about salary, it's still negligible.

Horton's contract this year and the next 3 years is 6M, then it's 4.5M and 3.6M in the final year. So after this season he is owed 26.1M.

Clarkson's contract this year is 4.75M, then it's 5.5M, then it's 7M for 2 years, 4.75M and finally 3.25M. So after this season he is owed 27.5M.

[Burke Salad]

I hear Toronto is trotting out the old we can now take on bad contracts for team's 1st round picks mantra.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

I was talking about salary, it's still negligible.

Horton's contract this year and the next 3 years is 6M, then it's 4.5M and 3.6M in the final year. So after this season he is owed 26.1M.

Clarkson's contract this year is 4.75M, then it's 5.5M, then it's 7M for 2 years, 4.75M and finally 3.25M. So after this season he is owed 27.5M.

But Clarkson actually plays. So they don't have to also pay someone else.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

But Clarkson actually plays. So they don't have to also pay someone else.

I've said as much and I've said it makes sense for Columbus. I was just addressing the misconception that Horton has a higher contract, they have the same so they don't get 2 free roster players. Just the one.