Dan Girardi Being Bought Out

Moments ago, the Rangers announced that they would be buying out the remainder of Girardi’s contract.  I find the move a bit surprising considering that they had not asked him to waive his NMC to help facilitate either a move to Vegas or a trade elsewhere. That being said, he had to come off the books somehow, and it was going to be expensive in either assets, dollar,s or both.  In this case, just dollars, and a lot of them. Girardi’s buyout costs are as follows (via CapFriendly):

SEASON	SALARY	INITIAL CAP HIT	ACTUAL COST	SAVINGS	BUYOUT CAP HIT
2017-18	$4,000,000	$5,500,000	$1,111,111	$2,888,889	$2,611,111
2018-19	$3,000,000	$5,500,000	$1,111,111	$1,888,889	$3,611,111
2019-20	$3,000,000	$5,500,000	$1,111,111	$1,888,889	$3,611,111
2020-21	$0	$0	$1,111,111	-$1,111,111	$1,111,111
2021-22	$0	$0	$1,111,111	-$1,111,111	$1,111,111
2022-23	$0	$0	$1,111,111	-$1,111,111	$1,111,111

His buyout hit in year 1 is nearly the exact amount of money the Rangers would save if the reports regarding Kevin Klein retiring prove correct. Years 2 and 3 will be very painful, but the last three are pretty manageable.

Girardi was a great story (undrafted free agent) and warrior for the franchise, but his blood and guts play clearly has taken its toll on him.  Feel free to hare some of your favorite Girardi stories and/or jubilation that he will be off the team.