Salary Cap Report: Central Division
As the hockey world takes its collective breath before the World Cup, training camps, and the regular season, most teams have checked off their boxes and marked their ledgers. Some teams are not finished building their rosters, with RFAs still to sign and trades to explore. Some teams have plenty of space to maneuver with; other teams will need to get creative to stay under the cap.
We’ll complete our Salary Cap Reports by taking a look at the Central Division. Of note:
- The Central Division has the two highest paid players in the NHL in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawks captain and leading scorer signed matching eight-year, $84MM extensions in the summer of 2014.
- After June’s blockbuster trade, the NHL’s highest paid defenseman is now in the Central: P.K. Subban and his $9MM cap hit are now members of the Nashville Predators. The Predators also have the highest paid goalie in the division, with Pekka Rinne making $7MM per season.
- With Dallas captain Jamie Benn signed to a long-term extension already, there aren’t any superstar pending-UFAs in the Central, but veteran scoring wingers Patrick Sharp and Alex Steen are both up at the end of this season. Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin and Ryan Johansen headline next summer’s RFAs.
By the numbers:
- Chicago Blackhawks
Cap Space Remaining: $2,490,705
Greatest Cap Hit: Jonathan Toews/ Patrick Kane: $10.5MM - Colorado Avalanche
Cap Space Remaining: $1,534,405
Greatest Cap Hit: Nathan MacKinnon: $6.3MM - Dallas Stars
Cap Space Remaining: $7,984,167
Greatest Cap Hit: Jason Spezza: $7.5MM (Jamie Benn’s $9.5MM per year extension doesn’t begin until 2017-18) - Minnesota Wild
Cap Space Remaining: $2,168,909
Greatest Cap Hit: Zach Parise/ Ryan Suter: $7.54MM - Nashville Predators
Cap Space Remaining: $5,414,166
Greatest Cap Hit: P.K. Subban: $9MM - St. Louis Blues
Cap Space Remaining: $3,957,083
Greatest Cap Hit: Vladimir Tarasenko: $7.5MM - Winnipeg Jets
Cap Space Remaining: $10,018,333
Greatest Cap Hit: Dustin Byfuglien: $7.6MM
Also in the Salary Cap Report series: Atlantic Division, Metropolitan Division, and Pacific Division.
Snapshots: Latest On Las Vegas, Islanders, Roussel
Las Vegas may be held up on a nickname since it’s already taken by another hockey organization. Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the London Knights of the OHL prevent the opportunity of having a “Knights” nickname in Canada, though it would work in the United States. Owner Bill Foley is also looking at hiring a team president but expects that decision to be made in October or November. Carp writes that it also appears the team is close to finalizing a deal for its proposed practice facilities, which include two rinks and the team headquarters. Foley expects groundbreaking to take place on October 1st.
In other NHL news:
- NBC Sports Cam Tucker wonders if general manager Garth Snow and head coach John Capuano have the full confidence of the Islanders fanbase. The Islanders are coming off a second round loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it was another season that saw New York advance further than the previous. Tucker writes the Islanders posted back to back 100 point seasons, and notes that even though Capuano has been on the hot seat at times, ownership recently backed both Snow and Capuano, lauding the leadership as a reason they advanced past Florida in the first round. Though they lost Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, and Matt Martin, Tucker adds that they signed Andrew Ladd to a long term deal and should still be competitive next season.
- Mark Stepenski caught up with with Dallas Stars forward Antoine Roussel who thinks the Stars are only going to build on last year’s successes. The addition of defenseman Dan Hamhuis is one that Roussel particularly liked, saying that “…he’s a guy that does it all and I am excited to have a guy like him on our team.” The Stars will be looking to young players for depth this season, and Roussel thinks they’ll do the job Stepenski writes.
Snapshots: World Cup, Tufte, Grabovski, Penguins
The NHL and ESPN today released the U.S. broadcast schedule for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. The tournament runs from September 8th to as late as October 1st, should the best-of-three final go the distance. The games will be broadcast in the United States on all four ESPN channels. The Canadian broadcast schedule was previously released in May, and the games will air in Canada on Rogers Sportsnet and CBC.
Here are some more snapshots from around the league:
- Matt Wellens of the Duluth News Tribune writes today on Dallas Stars’ first round pick Riley Tufte, who will miss the remainder of the US national junior development camp with a broken wrist. Tufte, 18, is not expected to miss time during the regular season, which he’ll play at the University of Minnesota Duluth . Tufte had 10 goals, 14 points in 27 games for the USHL’s Fargo Force last year.
- David Holcomb of Today’s Slapshot discusses Mikhail Grabovski and the New York Islanders today. Holcomb writes that after the big financial commitment the Islanders made to Grabovski, the amount of time he’s missed through injuries is difficult to deal with. He’s played well when healthy, but he plays with a fearlessness that gets him into trouble, especially with his lack of size.
- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey reports on the Penguins’ AHL affiliates, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, have added to their coaching staff. Chris Taylor and J.D. Forrest will be join head coach Clark Donatelli. Forrest, 35, played last year in the ECHL. Taylor, 44, played 149 games in the NHL for the Bruins, Islanders, and Sabres, and spent last year as an assistant coach for the Rochester Americans.
Snapshots: Nyquist, Bishop, Benn
The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James reports that Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist expects to bounce back following a disappointing 2015-16 campaign. Nyquist failed to reach the 20 goal mark for the first time since becoming a Wings regular. After being counted on to step up as one of the core players, Nyquist’s production slipped with 43 points (17-26) and just one goal in five playoff games. Though St. James believes Nyquist could recover with a new assistant coach in John Torchetti, she also writes that the 26-year-old Swede could be packaged in a deal to acquire a defenseman. With the Red Wings logjam at forward and Nyquist’s disappointing return last season, it’s a realistic scenario with forward Tomas Tatar due a hefty raise following the 2015-16 season.
In other NHL news:
- The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton indicates that Ben Bishop believes he’ll be ready for the World Cup of Hockey. Clinton recaps the injury that torpedoed the Lightning’s attempt at a second straight Stanley Cup Final appearance, but writes that Bishop does feel better and plans on taking his recovery slow. Even if he does recover in time, Clinton reports that Bishop could easily be the third option behind Jonathan Quick and Cory Schneider. Entering his final season in Tampa, Bishop could be shuttled to another team or kept as an insurance option during the post-season. Arguably a pre-season favorite to win the Stanley Cup, Bishop could once again backstop a deep run in the playofs should he remain healthy.
- Clinton also reports that Dallas Stars’ forward Jamie Benn should also be ready for the World Cup of Hockey after undergoing surgery for a core muscle injury. While Benn believes he will suit up for the Canadian squad, Clinton writes that the Stars will have final say, especially after they inked their captain to an eight-year, $76MM extension.
West Notes: Klefbom, Henderson, Benn
In a translated interview with Ola Winther of Hockey Sverige (Sweden), Oilers’ defenseman Oscar Klefbom was quoted talking about Taylor Hall and the impact he made last season: “He (Hall) never played his best games against the tougher teams, which we really needed it. However, he was fantastic when we met the little inferior teams.”
While this quote obviously might have been slightly lost in translation, the overall sentiment of it has been shared many times over recently by fans and media alike surrounding Hall’s exit from Edmonton. As seems to be the building tradition when a star player is traded or leaves in free agency, Hall’s weaknesses have drawn more focus than his strengths, despite his obvious offensive talent. New Jersey won’t be focusing on the weaknesses however, as they’ve created a solid young group of forwards that will be capable of putting up vast amounts of points next season.
For a team who ranked dead last in goals for last season, the Devils will take some defensive lapses to get Hall’s elite scoring ability. For the record, Hall scored 23 points in 28 games (0.82 PPG) against teams who finished in the top-10 of the league last season. He had 42 in the remaining 54 (0.78 PPG).
- In saddening news related to last season’s Dennis Wideman incident, there is now some doubt that NHL linesman Don Henderson will be able to continue his career on the ice. According to Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, friends close to the situation have told him that Henderson underwent surgery to repair two ruptured disks in his neck, and is unsure whether he’ll officiate another NHL game. The friend is quoted as saying “He attacked him from behind, the puck was nowhere near the two of them, and now Henderson’s career may be finished. I don’t see much difference between what he did and Wayne Maki cracking his stick over Teddy Green’s head.’’ Wideman is still involved in a dispute over the suspension that was shortened by an arbitrator last season.
- Many teams hoped that Jamie Benn was headed for free agency after next season, but after the Dallas Stars’ captain re-signed for another eight years, he’s sure to be in green for a while. Benn told Mike Heika of The Dallas News that he “didn’t have even one thought of leaving this place. I fell in love with Dallas, Texas ever since I got down here.” Benn ranked second in scoring last season, and has three straight 30-goal seasons. He’s under contract now through 2024-25, and should go down as one of the best Stars of all-time, should he continue his current path.
Flyers’ Buyout Candidates For Second Window
After signing Brandon Manning earlier Tuesday morning to a two-year deal, the Philadelphia Flyers have come to agreements with all of their restricted free agents and will now have a 48-hour buyout period (which starts Friday, three days after the final deal was struck) to clear cap room for the upcoming season. The team currently sits less than $500K away from the cap ceiling, offering little room in which to operate.
The team used the first window earlier this summer to rid themselves of R.J. Umberger and his $4.6MM cap hit. He’ll cost them just $1.6MM on the cap this season and $1.5MM next, after contributing just 26 points over the past two years for the Flyers.
While there has been no word from the Flyers on whether they’d take advantage of this new window, there are a couple of under-achievers that could be jettisoned over the weekend to open up some more room for GM Ron Hextall to work.
Matt Read – Two years, $3.625MM AAV: Read signed a four-year, $14.5MM deal in 2013, but has never been able to replicate the 24-goal, 47-point season he put up in his rookie year. After putting up the worst season of his career in 2015-16, and climbing to the wrong side of 30, Read has seen his role with the club diminished greatly and might be the next victim of a buyout.
If he was to be bought out, the Flyers would save $2.75MM in cap space this season, and $2.25MM next. He’d then cost them $1.25MM in space from 2018-20. Each year’s cap-hit broken down:
2016-17: $875K
2017-18: $1.375MM
2018-19: $1.25MM
2019-20: $1.25MM
Andrew MacDonald – Four years, $5MM AAV: The Flyers signed MacDonald to a six-year, $30MM deal in 2014 after he was traded from the New York Islanders mid-season. While MacDonald was coming off a 28-point season in which he logged almost 25 minutes a night, both those marks would prove to be career highs to this point, as a couple of injury-marred seasons has left MacDonald contributing just 20 points in 86 games since.
With the emergence of Shayne Gostisbehere last season, the Flyers have little use of MacDonald and his huge cap-hit going forward, especially if he can’t regain any of his form from years past. Now 29, it’s not unbelievable that he could get some of his skills back, but it looks like he’ll never be worth the $5MM that the Flyers gave him.
If the Flyers did buy him out, they’d save a good amount of cap space for the next four years, ranging between $2.98MM (next year) and $3.98MM (2019-20), though would be paying him until 2023-24. The cap-hit breakdown is as follows:
2016-17: $2.02MM
2017-18: $1.52MM
2018-19: $1.27MM
2019-20: $1.02MM
2020-21: $1.77MM
2021-22: $1.77MM
2022-23: $1.77MM
2023-24: $1.77MM
While both of these options seem like drastic measures, the team has a real chance of competing going forward with their young stars locked up long-term. Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier and Gostisbehere are all under contract or team control until at least 2019-20, with many stretching far beyond that. If the team is looking to push deep into the playoffs, it may need to rid itself of some of the weighty contracts it’s given out in the past.
We’ll continue to watch Hextall’s moves carefully, and follow the Flyers depth charts both here and on Roster Resource.
More On The Blackhawks, Jimmy Vesey
Kristi Loucks of Today’s Slapshot writes today on the emerging speculation surrounding Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Jimmy Vesey, who can become an unrestricted free agent on August 15th, when his draft rights expire, and the Chicago Blackhawks. We’ve discussed before the talk surrounding Vesey and the Blackhawks, and the news that Stan Bowman has been going to Foxboro, Massachusetts to watch Vesey play summer games.
Loucks mentions the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Toronto Maple Leafs as other teams that will be in the running for Vesey’s services. In season-long speculation involving Vesey, his ties to Sabres’ forward Jack Eichel are often brought up, as are his having been raised in Boston, and the fact that his father Jim is a scout for the Leafs, and his brother Nolan is a Leafs prospect himself.
Loucks discusses the benefits available in Chicago for Vesey. Obviously they’re a legitimate contender, having won the Stanley Cup three times this decade, but they’re unique for a contender in that they offer a large amount of playing time immediately for a young player. The Blackhawks aren’t particularly deep at left wing, and assuming Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin stays on the second line with Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane, Vesey could find the opportunity to play top minutes with future Hall of Fame linemates in Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.
Unresolved Off-Season Stories
Most of the focus of the off-season is on the top unrestricted free agents. Most of them are off the board by now, but there are still plenty of pressing plotlines left to be explored. Whether it’s extension talks, possible trades, or area of needs for a particular team, there’s still plenty left to do. Here are some of the biggest issues that are yet to be resolved.
- Kevin Shattenkirk: The Blues’ defenseman has been subject to trade rumors all summer, and for much of his career, with various sources linking him to the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. Several sources reported that the Oilers could have had him in exchange for Taylor Hall, and balked because he remained unsigned, had no intention of re-signing, and prefers to play on the east coast. Shattenkirk grew up in Westchester, and given their tendency to sign big name free agents, one may wonder if “east coast” mostly means the New York Rangers. This late into the summer, the Blues may have decided to hold onto him, given how close they were to last year’s finals.
- Rangers’ Cap: The Rangers managed to clear some space trading Derick Brassard to the Ottawa Senators for fellow center Mika Zibanejad. The Rangers have a lot of work to do, after falling off from a hot start, being unceremoniously dumped out of the first round of the playoffs by the eventual champion Pittburgh Penguins, and once again relying heavily on goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who turned 34 in March. The Rangers also had several expensive players disappoint last year, including Marc Staal (signed until 2021), Dan Girardi (2020), and Rick Nash (2018). If they are to make a move for Shattenkirk, or make many improvements at all, they’ll have to clear cap space. Their second buyout window may tempt them into cutting their losses with Girardi, and there’s been trade speculation surround Nash for a while now.
- Stars’ Goaltending: No playoff team allowed more goals than the Dallas Stars this year, and in the entire league, only the Calgary Flames had a lower team save percentage. Two of the top available goaltenders, former Blue Brian Elliott, now of the Flames, and former Duck Frederik Andersen, now of the Maple Leafs, are off the market. There’s been a lot of talk about Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop, given his pending free agent status, the Lightning’s cap situation, and the percieved promise of backup Andrei Vasilevskiy, who turns 22 on Monday. Still, a Stanley Cup contender in Tampa Bay may not be keen on moving an established star in Bishop, the runner up for this year’s Vezina trophy, to run with someone unproven. There aren’t a lot of other option out there, though there’s been trade talk surrounding the Penguins’ Marc-Andre Fleury, and they may end up having to wait until mid-season to get a goaltender. Incumbents Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen are under contract at $10.4MM combined per year in the mean time.
- Ducks’ Budget: The Ducks don’t really have a lot of work to do this offseason. They never did, having won their division, and clearly deciding that coaching was the problem, rather than their core of players. Still, they’re a budget team, with just under $65MM in budgetary commitments, though some of that will be eased by the Maple Leafs, having already paid half of the newly acquired Jonathan Bernier‘s salary in his July signing bonus. But they still have to sign restricted free agents Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm, and the betting was on the Ducks moving one of their young defensemen this off-season. The Ducks would probably do just about anything possible to keep Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, or Josh Manson, but they’ve displayed a willingness to move Cam Fowler for the right price. It’s difficult to say what exactly they’ll do now, given that the market clearly isn’t paying the Ducks’ asking price for Fowler, but it’s more likely they’ll lower their price for him than let someone like Lindholm go.
Speculative Suitors For Kris Russell
Yesterday we talked about the market for former Stars’ defenseman Kris Russell as reported by Andy Strickland, a Blues reporter for Fox Sports Midwest. On the 23rd day of free agency, Russell remains unsigned. This is surprising to an extent, since most assumed he’d be one of the few to sign a big money contract right away. Still, similar situations have happened before, including with defenseman Cody Franson last summer. Below are some teams that may have some interest in Russell, and who may be able to pay for him, given the right circumstances.
- Ottawa Senators: The Ottawa Senators currently have just six defensemen under contract for next year, and while that doesn’t count restricted free agent Cody Ceci, it does count Chris Wideman, Mike Kostka, and Mark Borowiecki, who are far from locks for serious NHL ice time. The team also lacks particularly strong defensemen, outside of Erik Karlsson, and while Russell has his detractors in the analytics community, a team that took on Dion Phaneuf without any retained salary seems like a likely one to use their own evaluation methods.
- Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres, similarly to the Senators, have six defensemen under contract, and one in Rasmus Ristolainen who is currently an unsigned restricted free agent, and one in Justin Falk, who’s yet to play serious minutes in the NHL, at 27 years old. One advantage the Sabres have in this situation is that with Franson, Ristolainen, and Zach Bogosian all being right handed, they can accomodate a left handed shot better than most teams. As mentioned earlier, Franson was an unsigned free agent far later into last summer than anyone anticipated, after talk of an expensive long term asking price, and ended up with the Sabres on a lower money, two year deal.
- Detroit Red Wings: Detroit has five defensemen under contract, in addition to the unsigned Danny DeKeyser. Once DeKeyser’s re-signed, there isn’t an obvious candidate to sit as the number seven defenseman in case of injuries, and they’re already mildly unbalanced in terms of handedness, carrying four left handers, and two right handers. Still, there’s been talk of the Wings improving their defense for a while now, and should they be able to clear out someone like Jonathan Ericsson or Jimmy Howard, which they’ll likely have to do to re-sign DeKeyser and goalie Petr Mrazek anyway, they could concievably be a fit for Russell, if GM Ken Holland values him more than one of his current defensemen, and should Ericsson be the one moved out, Russell would be a natural replacement.
- Edmonton Oilers: This is another scenario that really depends on how much the team values its current defenders. Andrew Ference was still injured during the buyout period, and so still on the roster, but between the injuries, his heavy decline, and his expiring contract, it’s hard to see him getting much ice time. The real questions are about what the Oilers want to do with Mark Fayne, who was waived and demoted this past season, and Jordan Oesterle, who has impressed in Bakersfield, and just turned 24, but who has just 23 NHL games to his credit, and is on a two way contract. We know the Oilers want to get better, and physical players are favored by GM Peter Chiarelli, but Ference was also once a physical, undersized, veteran free agent signing.
- Winnipeg Jets: The Jets have a large defense core as it is, but they also have tops of cap room, and a lot of their defensemen are cheaper veterans like Paul Postma and Brian Strait, who’d be easily stashed in the minors. It’s not a pressing need, but you can see why a team might make a less than necessary upgrade to their defense later in the summer if it’s possible, and the price tag is lower than originally imagined. Still, the Jets have a history of caution in the free agent market.
Latest On Kris Russell’s Free Agency
After being the topic of much speculation in the first few days of free agency, Kris Russell has been left out of rumors for the past few weeks. Today, we got the first bit of news in a while on him when Andy Strickland tweeted that “a few teams continue to eye Kris Russell” but need to move money in order to fit him in. Strickland doesn’t list any particular teams, but one can assume at least a handful would still have interest in the 29-year old.
It must seem like a long offseason so far for the former Dallas Stars’ blueliner as he continues to wait on a contract – early reports had him seeking at least $5MM a season, but it’s hard to see any team offering up that much at this point.
Russell looks like he might be the first real casualty of an league-wide turn towards analytics, as his best attribute – blocking shots – is being downplayed more and more as possession metrics come to the forefront of NHL analysis. Russell was once thought of as a promising young defender, but has fallen far out of that conversation.
Now, with teams moving to more mobile, positional back-ends, Russell finds himself one of the last men standing in free agency. The team that finally signs him might end up getting a deal at this point, since even if he’s not a top-four guy like many once thought he was, he is still a capable NHL defender who is young enough to contribute for the next few seasons.