I'm just curious but what is the correct amount of money a team should spend on its defense under a $69 mil cap?
As far as I can tell, these are the teams that spend $20M+ of their cap space on defense in the upcoming season.
Philadelphia: $31.341M cap space on defense (w/ Pronger & Timonen)
Tampa Bay: $28.814M cap space on defense (w/ Ohlund)
Washington: $28.761M cap space on defense
St. Louis: $25.991M cap space on defense
Tampa Bay: $25.207M cap space on defense (w/o Ohlund)
Montreal: $25.195M cap space on defense
Chicago: $24.498M cap space on defense
Philadelphia: $24.4M cap space on defense (w/o Pronger & Timonen)
NYRangers: $22.825M cap space on defense (John Moore unsigned RFA)
Toronto: $22.027M cap space on defense (6 players + retained slary on Gunnarsson and Gleason buyout)
Pittsburgh: $22.019M cap space on defense
Vancouver: $20.675M cap space on defense
In other words, once you remove players on LTIR that the teams had to replace, the Capitals have the most expensive defense in the league by nearly $3M.
It's not just about how much to spend on defense. It's about how long that defense is locked up for, and more importantly still, who they're spending it on. The Capitals have the most expensive defense in the league, but I don't think even the most delusional fan would call it anything close to being the best defense in the league.