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Fedor Tyutin bought out by Columbus Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 24: Fedor Tyutin #51 of the Columbus Blue Jackets skates against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 24, 2016 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 24: Fedor Tyutin #51 of the Columbus Blue Jackets skates against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 24, 2016 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Columbus Blue Jackets have bought out the final two years of the contract for long-time defenseman Fedor Tyutin.

The decision to buy out Tyutin will save Columbus $3,291,667 million against the salary cap this season and $2,541,667 against the salary cap for the following season according to General Fanager.

It will still cost Columbus $1,208,33 million against the salary cap for 2016-17 and $1,958,333 for 2017-18.

The following two years Tyutin’s buyout will cost Columbus $1,458,333 each season. The NHL’s buyout period ends at 5 p.m. eastern time on June 30.

Buying him out also prevents the Blue Jackets from being forced to protect him in next year’s expansion draft. This is because he had a no-move clause.

The move was necessitated by Columbus’ decision to re-sign young restricted free agent defenseman Seth Jones to a six-year $32.4 million contract. The Blue Jackets now have $69,665,475 locked into 46 contracts for 2015-16 without any major restricted free agents left to sign.

Tyutin ranks second all-time in Blue Jackets game played with 553, behind Rick Nash. Columbus acquired the 32-year-old Tyutin from the New York Rangers on July 2, 2008 along with Christian Backman for Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche.

“Fedor Tyutin is a pro in every sense of the word and has been an important player for the Columbus Blue Jackets for many years, but this decision is a result of the current depth on our blue line and to add some financial flexibility for our club moving forward,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a statement. “I want to thank Fedor for his many contributions and wish he, his wife, Sarah, and their family all the best moving forward.”

A recent online chat by the Columbus Dispatch also noted Jared Boll and David Clarkson as possible buyout candidates, though it also said, “there’s very little relief in buying out Clarkson and he might also be an LTIR candidate.”

As far as other aging players with big contracts on the Blue Jackets, the Dispatch recently reported forward Scott Hartnell was on the market, but his deal for a $4.75 million salary cap hit per-year through 2018-19 may make him unmovable.

Even though Hartnell remains productive, with more goals (51) than any other Blue Jacket during his two-season tenure, his salary demands and the no-movement clause in his contact, with an expansion draft looming, make him a tough sell

Last season Tyutin scored one goal and notched two assists in 61 games and averaged 17:35 of ice-time per-contest. He’s not the top-four defenseman he once was, but he adds more depth to a group of unrestricted free agent defensemen that lack marquee names.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!