Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports
The dust is starting to settle from NHL free agency, though some big names, most notably Nazem Kadri, remain available.
We have also seen some exchanges; As always, many of those moves involved salary dumping. While more signings and trades will follow, several teams have significant salary-cap issues.
According to CapFriendly, nine NHL teams are prepared to spend above the salary cap in 2022-2023. Using LTIR, though, not all of those teams are in trouble … at least not yet, but these teams will be watching their salary cap closely this season, and they’ll need to crunch the numbers if they intend to make any additions to their rosters. .
Las Vegas Golden Knights
The Shea Weber acquisition was a band-aid for an organization that can’t print money fast enough. They were forced to give away Max Pacioretty and release Dylan Coghlan to the Carolina Hurricanes for nothing except the nearly $8 million in salary-cap relief he provided the team.
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, they are not out of the capitalization crisis yet. Already over the salary cap (although they will comply due to the Weber release), the Golden Knights only have two-thirds of a signed roster. They still have some significant RFAs (Nicolas Hague, Keegan Kolesar, Nicolas Roy) to sign, and they don’t have room to make a trade during the season, unless it’s again losing money … and talent. Time is ticking for Las Vegas until this borderline nightmare can no longer be avoided.
philadelphia flyers
The main reason the Flyers missed out on Johnny Gaudreau is that they literally didn’t have the money.
The Flyers continue to struggle with the salary cap, with a projected cap above the ceiling according to CapFriendly. The biggest move Philadelphia could make for future cap space is trading James van Riemsdyk. The 33-year-old is in the final season of his contract paying $7 million per year and is targeted for unrestricted free agency next summer. Moving van Riemsdyk might involve withholding salary, but it can help a team headed for the playoffs, and the Flyers can bank futures in return.
The move to acquire Ryan Ellis could help Philly’s salary-cap woes if he stays at LTIR, but if Ellis is fit to play, Philly will have to make a move.
Montreal Canadians
Any dream of Montreal adding a player like Pierre-Luc Dubois would need to imply salary going in the opposite direction, potentially handcuffing general manager Kent Hughes should another deal be needed.
Canadians are up against the salary cap with only a few hundred thousand to spare. The only RFA signing is the newly acquired Kirby Dach. Montreal will get significant cap flexibility after this season with Jonathan Drouin, Jake Allen, Paul Byron and Evgeni Dadonov set to become unrestricted free agents. Those players total $16,775,000 in space about to become available.
A big chunk of that will go to Cole Caufield, but Montreal’s salary-cap problems seem temporary. The main question mark is the future of Carey Price. Until a long-term understanding of her situation is clear, the team will have to watch out for her $10.5 million salary.
Los Angeles Kings
Sitting with roughly $1.5 million in cap space, the Kings still have work to do this offseason, specifically in signing Sean Durzi and Michael Anderson. It will be impossible for Los Angeles to get both of them signed for what they have left. One method of finding temporary space is to bury overly mature young players who remain exempt from waiver in the minors.
Quinton Byfield, Rasmus Kupari, Jordan Spence and Jacob Moverare tick all the boxes, but at least some of these players are in Los Angeles’ immediate plans and could help them at the NHL level.
vancouver canucks
There’s a reason JT Miller’s name keeps coming up in trade rumors.
It’s a combination of the fact that his value as a 99-point scorer has never been higher, and that Vancouver could desperately use his $5.25 million in cap space, not to mention the assets he’d return rather than lose in free agency. you are welcome. the next summer.
Vancouver also risks seeing captain Bo Horvat leave town as UFA along with Miller, though Horvat is more likely to sign an extension. The Canucks are currently more than $2.75 million over the cap, but they’ll use Michael Ferland’s LTIR relief to comply. It looks like a major trade for Vancouver is a foregone conclusion this year unless they’re locked into a playoff spot. Then we’ll see what Patrik Allvin is made of in his first full season as Vancouver’s GM. Will he stand his ground and hope for the best? Or will he trade an early playoff exit for future success?
the toronto maple leaves
No discussion of capitalization issues would be complete without the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kyle Dubas has sold several draft picks, including first-round picks, to mitigate his salary-cap situation in recent years.
It happened again in the draft when the Leafs dropped in the second round to offload Petr Mrazek to Chicago. Despite the move, Toronto is still nearly $1.5 million over the cap and still has Rasmus Sandin to sign.
There are some moves that seem likely during the season. First, if Timothy Liljegren and Sandin emerge as expected, Justin Holl and his expiring $2 million contract could quickly become expendable.
Up front, Alex Kerfoot could be a midseason trade piece, though his 10-team no-trade clause could slow things down. If Dubas expects to add before the deadline, he will mean losing salary. Toronto always finds a way, and it would be a shock if they didn’t make it work once again.
Edmonton Oilers
Cap relief comes via LTIR via Oscar Klefbom and Mike Smith, but the Edmonton Oilers still don’t have the flexibility to make the moves they’d like to push Connor McDavid and company. excessive. In particular, a trio of RFAs are in line for new contracts in Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod and Jesse Puljujarvi. The trio made up a significant portion of Edmonton’s secondary scoring last season. Duncan Keith’s retirement was a salary-cap boost, but aside from Jack Campbell, this team doesn’t seem to have improved much compared to the team Colorado eliminated in the conference finals. Notably, Ken Holland is still in the market for a blue line upgrade. Right now, money is still tight despite your LTIR relief.
New York Islanders
The Islanders needed to improve this offseason. The problem? There was little or no money available to spend. Names like Nazem Kadri and Johnny Gaudreau were certainly interesting. New York, however, has no room. They currently have about $11 million available, but still need to sign Noah Dobson, Alex Romanov and Kieffer Bellows. Islanders fans are hoping for a turnaround season, but the roster remains unchanged. General manager Lou Lamoriello needed to do something, but before that can happen, he needs to lose his salary. Things could get even worse next season with Mathew Barzal entering restricted free agency.
tampa bay lightning
Winning comes at a cost, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are paying for it. They have seven players – Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Nick Paul, Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak and Andrei Vasilevskiy – insured until at least 2026-27. It gives the Lightning a core, but also limits the immediate moves they can make. Add in the big contracts that are paying Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, and things are tough in Tampa Bay.
Currently, Tampa is over $7 million over the cap. Hopefully, they’ll get most of that back through Brent Seabrook’s LTIR, but there’s still work to be done before opening day. After the 2022-23 campaign, the Lightning has six players earmarked for unrestricted free agency totaling roughly $13 million, but nearly half of that will vanish immediately in extensions for Cernak, Cirelli and Sergachev. Tampa has a nearly complete roster that will stay in contention, but from now on, Tampa will have to cut costs with every move.