Colorado Avalanche buy out Francois Beauchemin

The Colorado Avalanche have committed fully to getting younger. The next step in this process is that they have decided to buy out the remaining contract of veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin.

The Colorado Avalanche have bought out the remaining contract of veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin. This won’t be a long-term buy out, as Beauchemin only had one year remaining on the three-year contract. The buy out also won’t have any serious impact on the cap hit of the Colorado Avalanche.

Aside from trying to get younger, this buy out makes sense on the monetary side of the game. The Avalanche will actually end up saving $1.5 million over the next two years with this buy out, saving $3.0 million next year and having a $1.5 million loss the following season.

To clarify what this will do to their cap space, CapFriendly explains:

With the news that this has no effect on their cap space, this shows their intent to commit to the young players in the organization. It was also reported by Beauchemin’s agent Bob Sauve that the Avalanche never asked Beauchemin to waive the no-movement clause on his contract for the upcoming expansion draft. Another spot for protection is pivotal to moving in the right direction in the rebuild for Colorado.

During his time in Colorado Beauchemin played in 163 games during his two seasons there. During that time he had 13 goals and 39 assists, with eight goals and 26 assists in the 2015-16 season.

Next: Report: NHL salary cap expected to jump to $75 million

Before coming to Colorado Beauchemin played for the Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Montreal Canadiens. He played in 525 games for the Ducks, scoring 53 goals and adding 126 assists. Beauchemin only played in 11 games for Columbus, with two assists during that time, and only a single game for the Montreal Canadiens.