Duchene (hand) was placed on unconditional waivers by the Predators for the purpose of buying out his contract Friday, Chris Johnston of TSN reports.
Duchene has three years remaining on a seven-year, $56 million contract. The Predators will save approximately $5.4 million on the salary cap in 2023-24, $2.4 million in 2024-25 and $1.4 million in 2025-26. Duchene will carry a $1.55 million salary cap hit for the Predators in each of the following three seasons. Duchene had a career season in 2021-22, tallying 43 goals and 43 assists, but he slumped last season, finding the back of the net only 22 times while chipping in with 34 assists.