The NHL salary cap will be reduced for the upcoming 2013/14 season from the current $70.2 million to $64.3 million with a salary floor of $44 million.
What does this mean for your team? Well, for most teams it will be a very interesting off-season that should yield some exciting moves around the league. Teams have been granted amnesty buyouts with which they can buy out two contracts of their choice. We have seen this rule used already on players like Scott Gomez and Wade Redden as teams no longer able to hide the hideous contracts in farm barn – aka AHL teams.
I will try to paint a picture of just how complex this off-season is going to be for the GM’s around the league.
Let us start first with a team that has found it self in fairly good cap space situation; the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings sit in 18th spot in the amount of cash they have to spend ($10 million available). They represent more than just a good cap space amount, because as an organization they have done a great job in managing performance and spending. This year this strategy will be put to the ultimate test.
At first glance we can see that the Wings really do not have that many players to sign. You have Gustav Nyquist (RFA), Joakim Andersson (RFA), Danny Cleary (UFA), Damien Brunner (UFA), Valtteri Filppula (UFA), Jakub Kindl (RFA), Brendan Smith (RFA) and Ian White (UFA). Now these are players that played huge minutes for the Wings in the playoffs and are considered the future of the franchise, excluding Danny Cleary and Ian White. Assuming White and Cleary are done, we have six players that need to be signed to contracts that fit in the $10 million available. The RFA’s you can maybe swing at cheap deals as none of them have really put up enough numbers or played enough to warrant a heavy contract, but even so you still have Valtteri Filppula. He made $3.5 million last season and it would be really difficult for Kenny Holland to give him anything less. If he gets about what Johan Franzen makes, $4 million per, than you only have 6 million left to sign the other five young guys you really want to keep in Detroit.
Buyouts: Mikael Samuelsson is probably the one that has to be gone. Detroit tried to bring the veteran in to provide some experience on the PP. This little experiment proved to be a disaster. His $3 million cap hit is absolutely atrocious and needs to be gone. Another contract that may be bought out will be Todd Bertuzzi or Jordin Tootoo. Both make about $2 million, but Todd Bertuzzi is way older and may be more injury prone. Carlo Calaiacovo is another buyout ($2.5 million cap hit) candidate, but Kenny Holland would probably prefer keeping the defenseman around for depth reasons.
With about five million of buyout cash that becomes available to the Wings, they can easily sign their young guns to safe deals that will keep this franchise moving forward.
Toronto Maple Leafs shocked the hockey world by finally visiting the magical place that is the NHL Playoffs. The visit may have been short, but I am sure some of the locals are still in a daze fueled by a high that this magical moment delivered. But it is time to wake up and smell the next season that is coming. Who stays, who goes – somebody has got to know, right?
Toronto sits, at first glance, on a good healthy cap space of $18.5 million of money to spend on free agents. According to Capgeek.com the team only has $1,857,083 to spend per player to get to a 23-man roster. In comparison, Detroit Red Wings only had $10 million cap space, but had about $3.5 million per player to get to a 23-man roster.
This means that Toronto has a lot of home brew talent that needs a fresh contract.
We can probably say that Tim Connolly’s career with the Leafs is done, and Leo Komarov has signed in the KHL, but what about other players? Nazem Kadri (RFA), Joe Colborne (RFA), Frazer McLaren (RFA), Clarke MacArthur (UFA), Tyler Bozak (UFA), Carl Gunnarsson (RFA), Cody Franson (RFA), Mark Fraser (RFA), Ryan O’Byrne (UFA), Mike Kostka (UFA). Toronto needs to have 10 players signed to skate a full roster, if they do not plan on bringing in any more rookies this season. The first names to jump out are Kadri, and Franson. These two should be signed by Toronto, we just do not know for how much. The fact is that Kadri had one of those breakout seasons that could have warranted a long-term big money deal, the issue is that it was his first year and only 48 games. Franson has been on a steady incline as a pro and had a fantastic year offensively this season, but again it was only 48 games. So what is he worth? Realistically speaking, these two players could eat up $8 million of cap space. Not great news for the Leaf fans, but this is highly possible. MacArthur is looking for about $3 million per year, but he may have to test the free agent market to get it. Tyler Bozak is another big name Leafs free agent, and he’s looking for a big pay day. He may also leave Toronto, giving them a significant hole up the middle.
If this is a worst case scenario you have $8 million tied into 2 players, albeit good players that hold the franchise’s future in their hands, but what about the other 8 guys that need to be signed? Well, there is the word “buyout” again. Mike Komisarek is bound to be on this hit list, with his $3.5 million cap hit. Mikhail Grabovski is a prime candidate as well. His $5.5 million per season contract lasts all the way until 2016-17 season and his production is just not up to par. He signed this deal during the time when the cap limit was assumed to be going up and up and the value of his contract would increase, but not so anymore. His $5.5 million cap hit is incredibly pricey for a 45-50 point guy. Another strong buyout candidate is defenceman John Michael-Liles (3 years, $11.25 million in real cash remaining, $3.875 million cap hit per year) who was often a healthy scratch for Randy Carlyle.
So, as we can see that just because your team has a lot of cash to spend, it does not mean it will be a huge free agent buyer.
The New York Islanders are no strangers to the term buyout. They are still paying and will be paying Alexei Yashin about $2.2 million per year for him not to play for them anymore. Another big candidate for a buyout this year is Rick DiPietro. Actually, the goaltending in Long Island (Brooklyn?) is kind of a mystery still. With Nabokov and Thomas being UFA’s and very old, they do have Kevin Poulin but he also needs a contract. There is also a rumor that Vancouver will be getting rid of Luongo and Islanders may nibble at that bait either via trade or if he is bought out as a UFA.
What is very interesting to point out that the Islanders are not known as big spenders and it is fairly common knowledge that they like to dwell on the salary cap floor, which will be $44 million next year. This very young team will continue to stay young both on defense and upfront, but with a few expensive rookies and quite a few roster holes to fill, this team is bound to wind up riding a bit above their comfort zone.
Travis Hamonic and Thomas Hickey are both RFAs but both will probably demand a hefty amount due to excellent play on the back end. Griffin Reinhart will be given every opportunity to make the team next year, but it remains to be seen if he needs a little more time in the minors.
It would be very interesting for the Islanders to be a big spender this summer (they have the most cash to spend with about 29 million in cap space) and grab some buyouts or free agents on the market. Due to the buyouts around the league and the limited CAP space most teams face, the price for players that are in the lower top-six skill level may be the cheapest it will ever be.
These are just three teams with some unique circumstances, but in no way do other teams GM’s have it easy. Most teams will have a very busy off-season with lots of decisions to be made. I mean teams like Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, Carolina Hurricanes, and San Jose Sharks, all face some difficult choices in the upcoming weeks. Not only are the decisions rather harder to make with the salary cap crunch, but we also have a shorter hockey summer.
Checkout our buyout possibility list (Eastern Conference) and feel free to add comments on your own team.
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