THE SALARY CAP HELL BUCKET
Trade Bait: The NHL's 31 teams fit neatly into three buckets this off-season - TSN.ca
Toronto Maple Leafs: So long as the Big Four (Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander) account for nearly half ($40.4 million) of the frozen $81.5 million cap, filling in the gaps will be challenging.
Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers have less than $11 million to spend on a starting netminder and three or four depth forwards.
Arizona Coyotes: Phil Kessel, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Derek Stepan, Michael Grabner and Niklas Hjalmarsson are Trade Bait candidates as the Yotes look to shave salary.
Anaheim Ducks: Moving Ryan Kesler to LTIR can give GM Bob Murray another $6.8 million to spend, but the Ducks still have more than $74 million already committed.
Chicago Blackhawks: GM Stan Bowman needs a starting goaltender and to re-sign 30-goal rookie Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome. He’s got less than $8 million to do it.
Dallas Stars: The Stanley Cup finalists have some decisions to make. RFAs Radek Faksa, Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz need new contracts, plus a mega deal is looming for Miro Heiskanen. The Stars might also need another netminder because playoff hero Anton Khudobin is up.
Florida Panthers: The Cats aren’t expected to spend to the cap under new GM Bill Zito, who is actively trying to move out money. The potential trade of Mike Matheson, which hit a snag, signals that direction.
New York Islanders: Is Matthew Barzal’s new AAV eight figures or seven? Barzal doesn’t have arbitration rights, but he can sign an offer sheet. Moving Johnny Boychuk (No. 13 on Trade Bait) is a start, since buying him out doesn’t help the cap.
New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist is likely heading for a buyout, which makes for $12 million total in dead space, counting Kevin Shattenkirk’s buyout. That reduces GM Jeff Gorton’s spending power to nearly $68 million, which is why big-ticket RFAs Tony DeAngelo and Ryan Strome are Trade Bait.
Pittsburgh Penguins: The Pens are looking at an internal cap around $75 million, which is why GM Jim Rutherford is on a quest to clear out money, starting with Nick Bjugstad and then in the attempt to move Patric Hornqvist, so he can dip his toe into the free agent market.
St. Louis Blues: There are all sorts of ways the Blues can keep captain Alex Pietrangelo. They include finding a new home for one of Tyler Bozak, Vince Dunn or Colton Parayko – because the contract of Justin Faulk would be a tough one.
Tampa Bay Lightning: A Stanley Cup would soothe the fact that the Bolts probably need to clear $10 million off the books this summer. It was J.T. Miller last year. This year, it could be Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat or even Yanni Gourde.
Vegas Golden Knights: It seems to be a poorly kept secret that Vegas wants to gear up to take a run at pending free agent Alex Pietrangelo. The question is: How will they be able to afford him? They’re going to have to start by figuring out their goaltending.
