Panthers traded J. Hayes to Boston for Reilly Smith and the rights to Marc Savard, who carries a $4M cap hit. Why would the Panthers, or anyone, do that?
Because Savard can be put on long term injury and his salary won't count towards the cap. The Panthers only have to pay what he is lower than His $4+mil aav
They reach the cap floor for now. They'll only pay him I think his actual salary which is very low. I Guess they have the option of putting him on LTI or just making him count to reach the cap floor.
You cant put anyone on LTIR until the season starts. During the offseason, the hit counts against the cap. You can exceed the cap in the offseason, but not by much. Getting Savard's hit off the books allowed Boston to sign Beleskey as well as keep the rest of their RFAs. Savard's hit would have prevented them from making these moves. Florida now has the option of putting him on LTIR or keeping him on the books during the season if they need to reach the cap floor.
