Odd that the article didnt mention the money part. If the Caps are now free of Kuzy, that should put them real close to the salary cap. But still over it. Someone else needs to go. Before capfriendly went private, they had Oshie on LTIR. That would give the Caps plenty of space, but then they gotta play musical chairs again if Oshie comes back.
Hate to say it, but it may be time for retirement.
There still has been no final official word that Backstrom is done. I think maybe it's a game the organization has to play - they can't just say the player is done, because rules may force the player to then declare retirement or something, and they lose their salary? But if the team keeps the "well, we'll see" charade going, then Backstrom essentially gets an $18 million thank you gift.
We may be seeing the same thing with Oshie. The latest cover story was that they were trying various things to try to address his back issues, but they hadn't found anything that worked yet. They may simply play the same game with him, and sort of pretend that the end of his career isn't an irrevocably done deal, but "everyone knows" he's not going to play this season.
As for playing golf, I've had back trouble for over 50 years - and I play golf. Now I'm not a good player, and a large part of my problem is that I can't make any real turn with my body, so I can't get any torque in my swing and I don't hit the ball very far. I just sort of push the ball out there. My very best drive goes only 220-230 yards. But I can still play golf, sort of. The new club technologies let even a limited golfer pretend that (s)he is playing a representative game.