The National Hockey League’s annual buyout window is set to open tonight at 12:01 ET. It will run until June 30th at 5:00 p.m. EST. During that time span, teams can buy-out a player by paying him two-thirds of the remaining value of a contract over twice the remaining length of the contract.

I don’t think the Oilers are going to be using a buyout at this point. There have been rumblings about the team looking to move on from Milan Lucic and there have also been rumours about the team potentially looking to shed Andrej Sekera’s salary. Still, at this point, I can’t see the Oilers simply buying out the contract of a player like that after one down season. A trade is possible, but both players simply being back with the team next year seems most likely.

Last summer, the Oilers used a buyout on Benoit Pouliot and it was a puzzling decision. He had two years left on his deal at $4 million, which was a steep price to pay for a bottom-six forward, but now they’re on the hook for a $1,333,333 cap hit for three more seasons.