For better or worse, the salary cap’s upper limit increase has not led to much movement this summer. In a recent interview with RG Media, an NHL executive, who has chosen to remain anonymous, believes offseasons like these will become the modus operandi for the foreseeable future.
The anonymous executive bluntly said, “Teams will do a good job of locking up their own players. Everybody in the league, except for a few teams, had a lot of cap space, and I think going forward, if you like a player, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t try to keep them yourself.”
Similarly, the executive furthered their original point, saying, “Sometimes teams look to make these changes, but sometimes it’s better not to make many changes and keep the guys you believe in because they know their character, work ethic, and how they get along with their team. It makes more sense than going out and getting something that you’re not sure about.”
It doesn’t take long to prove their point, either. Taking a look back at our Top 50 Projections from 2023, eight players out of the top 10 (nine if you’re including Patrice Bergeron choosing to retire) left their respective clubs that offseason. Similarly, in 2024, seven out of our top 10 projected unrestricted free agents headed for greener pastures. This year? Only two.
Given that the salary cap will rise by the same percentage year on year for the next few seasons, there’s no reason to believe anything will change moving forward. Hypothetically speaking, the only way it may change is if the trio of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Kirill Kaprizov heads to the open market next summer. If their respective clubs aren’t interested in a sign-and-trade, as the Vegas Golden Knights did with the Toronto Maple Leafs this offseason for Mitch Marner’s services, then teams may be inclined to keep their pocketbooks full to take a run at a game-changing talent.
Still, there’s no expectation that either of the three will become unrestricted free agents in less than a year, with most reporting suggesting that each will sign long-term extensions with their respective clubs. Should that be the case, next year’s free agent class will look similarly to this year’s, forecasting another eerily slow summer.
Kaprizov would be the most likely of those 3 to leave, though i think of the 3 it would make more sense for Eichel to explore, though acquiring Marner unless they can find takers to dump some of the aging contracts Vegas would likely be the closest of the 3 to head towards mediocrity, though a lot would say Minnesota has been mediocre since their inception
This is why we’re seeing the same teams go to the conference finals and cup finals every year now. GMs are afraid to be aggressive so the top teams are having an easy time staying at the top. This is also why it takes 10-years for a rebuild now… we’re going to see pretty much the same teams in the playoffs again this year. Teams that had space and should have felt some urgency to improve, didn’t. Detroit, Buffalo, Philly, Boston, Chicago, Nashville, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver all missing the playoffs again this year, guaranteed.
Ridiculous to say Vancouver and Detroit definitely not making playoffs.
A Superstar FA isn’t going to go to a young rebuilding team or an old fading one so that’s why those teams have money. It’s not always about money. They’re going to go where they think they can win all things being equal so your argument holds no water. It’s a leaky sieve.
Sometimes they will. Gaudreau (RIP) went to the Blue Jackets.
As a Sabres fan, I can attest to this.
link to tsn.ca … -1.2348838
Crown won’t appeal.
link to tsn.ca
this one should work
This is kind of a huge yikes of an article. Firstly, one executive should not be labeled THE “NHL”. The executive also doesn’t really take the players or internal caps into consideration. Players can easily choose to want to play somewhere else for a variety of reasons, whether it be wanting a new living situation, getting slightly higher pay from another team, not liking the direction or mix of the team, etc. I think it’s very dense for the exec to just assume all top players will want to stay on whatever team they are on, hell the Panthers should be the primary example of the exact opposite of what this exec is saying, since they chose to change their mix because even if it was good, it wasn’t cup worthy. Also like I said, some good teams like Winnipeg only have so much money and will have to keep to an internal cap and won’t be able to reach an exceedingly higher cap in a few years. Further to that there will be teams that will happily be able to always be spending to the cap and they will most definitely take advantage of that against other teams. Not every team is the Florida panthers that checks every box for what players are looking for, so for whatever reason why (I can think of a few) that this exec thinks running it back constantly with the same core will be the norm, will most definitely be proven wrong.
Interestingly, it’s really only slow season in terms of news. For the players and staff, they are still quite busy.
I actually met several NHL players from different teams – completed unexpectedly and without knowing at first – while doing some service work at a small-town arena with a training facility build on the back.
I won’t name their names for the sake of privacy, but they included one bone fide star, 3 full-time roster players, and a goalie in the Flames system (could tell from the helmet). Plus a skills coach from an NHL team. Apparently they all played on the same junior team and train together in the off-season.
I was working on a pair of doors between the rink and the locker room, and these guys literally all had to walk around me. Crazy world sometimes, man!
If teams are going to lock up their pending UFAs then it’s time Game start using offer sheets in RFAs who haven’t resigned. Start forcing the hand of other GMs.