buy out

[…] the present Earl had no colour or pretence of right to the estate; and yet the appellants had thought fit to buy him out, […]

A standard NHL contract, agreed to by both players and owners, has what is called a buy-out clause. If a player's performance deteriorates to the point that he is put on waivers and there are no takers, meaning nobody in the NHL wants him, his club can buy him out at one-third of what's left on the contract.