Salary Cap: Habs 2020-2021 - Offseason (Cap - RFA/UFA) Thread

How many from that list will be back and playing next year ?


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    25

montreal

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Mar 21, 2002
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The cap is expected to stay at 81.5M next season



UFA's - (5) - cap hit
Michael Frolik - 750K
Erik Gustafsson - 1.5M
Gustav Olofsson - 750k
Eric Staal - 1.625M
Thomas Tatar - 5.3M (4.8 for Habs)

RFA's - (4) - cap hit
Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 925K
Michael McNiven - 700K
Michael Pezzetta - 743,333K
Ryan Poehling - 925K

Signed elsewhere -
Demechenko
Otto Leskinen
Weal



we are currently at 40 contracts as long as Guhle and Mysak play in the CHL so their contracts slide.
 
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montreal

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players that need to be signed,


Joni Ikonen
Jacob LeGuerrier

also we have Hudon's rights till the summer

add in Caufield, hopefully Harris as players being signed.

currently Dichow has no team to play for next year
 
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A Loyal Dog

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Oct 20, 2016
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I hope we can find a way to extend both Tatar and Danault to reasonable contracts. Next priority after them is Armia. The rest of the UFA: IDGAF.

As for our RFAs: bridge Kotkaniemi, Lehkonen (1-year cheaper deal), Fleury, Mete, and Poehling. Extend McNiven to backup Primeau in AHL. The rest: IDGAF.
 
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montreal

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Alzner counts as 1,958,333 against the cap next season

if you were to buyout Byron next summer,

we would save 2,866,667M in cap space in year 1
then we would save 1,666,667 in year 2
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 3
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 4


not saying we should or shouldn't buy him out, just posting the numbers, which clearly would help and we will badly need all the money we can get. Danault is rumored to be in the 5.5 to 5.75M per, Tatar likely wants more then that as a guess. KK should get a nice raise for sure and whatever money we spend we need to keep in mind Suzuki gets paid the following summer.
 

The Great Weal

Phil's Pizza
Jan 15, 2015
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Alzner counts as 1,958,333 against the cap next season

if you were to buyout Byron next summer,

we would save 2,866,667M in cap space in year 1
then we would save 1,666,667 in year 2
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 3
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 4


not saying we should or shouldn't buy him out, just posting the numbers, which clearly would help and we will badly need all the money we can get. Danault is rumored to be in the 5.5 to 5.75M per, Tatar likely wants more then that as a guess. KK should get a nice raise for sure and whatever money we spend we need to keep in mind Suzuki gets paid the following summer.
I think Danault will come down and we will sign him reasonably. I also think Tatar would take a discount with us because he seems to love it here(of course I though the same with Radulov). I don't know about Armia and I think Lehkonen will get less than his current contract. I don't think Kotkaniemi will get a crazy raise unless he really takes off this year. Not to mention that Seattle will take Chiarot/Edmundson.

We could realistically resign Danault and Tatar assuming they don't want to break the bank next year. Hopefully we get Poehling and Caufield performing well to have some ELCs in the lineup.
 

A Loyal Dog

Woof!
Oct 20, 2016
9,419
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Alzner counts as 1,958,333 against the cap next season

if you were to buyout Byron next summer,

we would save 2,866,667M in cap space in year 1
then we would save 1,666,667 in year 2
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 3
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 4


not saying we should or shouldn't buy him out, just posting the numbers, which clearly would help and we will badly need all the money we can get. Danault is rumored to be in the 5.5 to 5.75M per, Tatar likely wants more then that as a guess. KK should get a nice raise for sure and whatever money we spend we need to keep in mind Suzuki gets paid the following summer.
I’m sure we can find a suitor for Byron. He’s still a very good player and great at PK.
 

montreal

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I think Danault will come down and we will sign him reasonably. I also think Tatar would take a discount with us because he seems to love it here(of course I though the same with Radulov). I don't know about Armia and I think Lehkonen will get less than his current contract. I don't think Kotkaniemi will get a crazy raise unless he really takes off this year. Not to mention that Seattle will take Chiarot/Edmundson.

We could realistically resign Danault and Tatar assuming they don't want to break the bank next year. Hopefully we get Poehling and Caufield performing well to have some ELCs in the lineup.

if you lose Allen, that's 2.875 added to about 15.5 for a little over 18M for 14 players.

If Danault, Tatar, KK, and Leks cost 17M, that's still only 18 players with very little cap space for a backup goalie and a 7th D

I’m sure we can find a suitor for Byron. He’s still a very good player and great at PK.

very good? depends on your definition and he's making 4M next year, so if no fans all season, some teams will be hurting for sure. currently he's played 90 games over the last 3 years and turns 32 next year. but we'll have to see how the season goes
 
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A Loyal Dog

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Oct 20, 2016
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I would give Seattle a 2nd round pick to select him at the expansion draft.
I know I’m in the minority, but I would give Price to Seattle. Clears out a massive contract which won’t look good in a few years. I’m very confident in Primeau and I like Allen.

The faster we get rid of Price’s contract while he’s still good value, the better for us. It’s not like Weber who brings a lot of leadership and is great for the kids, etc. Price’s contract is just really bad and will cripple us sooner than later.

Also, with Price gone, we can add an Ovechkin/Hall/RNH for our LW or Hamilton for RD (if he’s willing), which will massively improve our roster. I can totally see Ovechkin play for the Habs, if we made him an offer...

Imagine:

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Ovechkin - Kotkaniemi - Toffoli
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Poehling - Evans - Lehkonen
 
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montreal

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24 players not under contract out of 47 for next year, off the top of my head that might be the highest I can remember, though it's still very early in the shortened season. Still it's likely that a lot of those 24 won't be back so will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
 

Miller Time

Registered User
Sep 16, 2004
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The cap is expected to stay at 81.5M next season, the Habs currently are at just under 66M but for only 7F, 6D, 2G from the current roster. Plus we know we will lose one player to the expansion draft.



UFA's -
Joel Armia - 2.6M
Alex Belzile - 700K
Phillip Danault - 3,083,333
Vasili Demchenko - 792,500K
Michael Frolik - 750K
Charlie Lindgren - 750K
Corey Perry - 750K cap hit
Thomas Tatar - 5.3M (4.8 for Habs)
Jordan Weal - 1.4M


RFA's -
Brandon Baddock - 700K
Joseph Blandisi - 700K
Laurent Dauphin - 700K
Cale Fleury - 771,666K
Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 925K
Artturi Lekonen - 2.4M
Otto Leskinen - 925K
Jacob Lucchini - 700K
Victor Mete - 735K
Michael McNiven - 700K
Gustav Olofsson - 750k
Michael Pezzetta - 743,333K
Ryan Poehling - 925K
Lukas Vejdemo - 700K
Hayden Verbeek - 753,333K


we are currently at 47 contracts

with the losses owners will take this year, next summer's UFA could be even more full of vets taking low term/low$ deals...

barring major trade to unload salary i'd like to see us get Danault/Armia re-signed (plus our key RFA's), then fill out the rest of the roster with Perry/Frolik-type vets

~19M in cap space for 6F/3D (assuming that one of Chiarot/Edmundson goes in the expansion draft)

5.5m/2-3 years - Danault
2.8m/2 years - Armia
2.8/2 years - lekhonen
2.2m/2 years - JKO
1m/1-2years - Poehling
900k/1-2 years - Mete
900k/ 1-2 years - Fleury

= ~16M... still leaves about 3M in cap to work with to replace Tatar... last year that would've been enough to land Granlund, so could be enough to get a decent replacement.

if Danault/Armia play ball and Seattle takes the bait, we could be sitting ok next summer.

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Granlund - JKO - Toffoli
Lekhonen - Danault - Gallagher
Poehling - Evans - Byron
Perry-esque vet

Romanov - Weber
Chia/Edm- Petry
Mete - Kulak
Fleury

Price
Allen
 

HuGo Sham

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Apr 7, 2010
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I hope we can find a way to extend both Tatar and Danault to reasonable contracts. Next priority after them is Armia. The rest of the UFA: IDGAF.

As for our RFAs: bridge Kotkaniemi, Lehkonen (1-year cheaper deal), Fleury, Mete, and Poehling. Extend McNiven to backup Primeau in AHL. The rest: IDGAF.
i think they'll only sign Danault - and let tatar walk, so they don't have to protect him...maybe they circle back on him as a UFA...but they'll only sign one of them in-season
 

Scriptor

Registered User
Jan 1, 2014
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The cap is expected to stay at 81.5M next season, the Habs currently are at just under 66M but for only 7F, 6D, 2G from the current roster. Plus we know we will lose one player to the expansion draft.



UFA's -
Joel Armia - 2.6M
Alex Belzile - 700K
Phillip Danault - 3,083,333
Vasili Demchenko - 792,500K
Michael Frolik - 750K
Charlie Lindgren - 750K
Corey Perry - 750K cap hit
Thomas Tatar - 5.3M (4.8 for Habs)
Jordan Weal - 1.4M


RFA's -
Brandon Baddock - 700K
Joseph Blandisi - 700K
Laurent Dauphin - 700K
Cale Fleury - 771,666K
Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 925K
Artturi Lekonen - 2.4M
Otto Leskinen - 925K
Jacob Lucchini - 700K
Victor Mete - 735K
Michael McNiven - 700K
Gustav Olofsson - 750k
Michael Pezzetta - 743,333K
Ryan Poehling - 925K
Lukas Vejdemo - 700K
Hayden Verbeek - 753,333K


we are currently at 47 contracts

I assume it will stay at 81.5M but, I think that what is more important is that it will remain a flat Cap. What that means is it won't be directly linked to the actual 50\50 split called upon by the CBA. I've heard it mentioned that, under this structure, there might be a 1M raise in the Cap ceiling to 82.5M to offer some relief for Cap-strapped teams. The league would rather do this than allow for amnesty buyouts again, from what I heard.

Still, we'll go with a Cap at 81.5M for this exercise...

I hope we can find a way to extend both Tatar and Danault to reasonable contracts. Next priority after them is Armia. The rest of the UFA: IDGAF.

As for our RFAs: bridge Kotkaniemi, Lehkonen (1-year cheaper deal), Fleury, Mete, and Poehling. Extend McNiven to backup Primeau in AHL. The rest: IDGAF.

Unless I'm wrong, Lehkonen can't be offered less than he is currently making, plus he's arbitration eligible, if I'm not mistaken.

Don't see that happening.

Personally, since we need to make some Cap space, whatever happens in the next two years, as both Suzuki and Romanov will need to be extended after next season, once Kotkaniemi has been extended after this season, I think it's a question of choices.

Do you want stronger depth in Danault and Tatar than Armia and Lehkonen? Byron is basically an anchor of a contract for a player relegated to 4th line duties and specialty team missions on the PK when there are half a dozen other candidates to adequately pull off this missions on the roster already!

My answer is a resounding YES!

I would opt to move all three of Byron, Armia and Lehkonen (in diminishing Cap order) in the short term and consider trading Kulak as well to provide the necessary short term Cap relief.

It's quality depth, IMO, but not depth that can't be replaced, in a 4th line role, for the most part, from within for cheaper.

Byron (3.4M)
Armia (2.6M)
Lehkonen (2.4M)

IMO, while genuine quality depth, all three players, except for Armia, are overpaid for their current roles on the team but, both Armia and Lehkonen will expect raises this offseason. Of the two, Armia has more leverage but, I can't see Lehkonen getting less than 2.75M either. How much will Armia expect, especially if he performs well with KK and Tofolli?

Within the system, who can replace these three at a much cheaper Cap hit?

Byron's younger clone is, essentially, Ylonen, hell on skates (not wheels), defensively sound and boasting offensive upside as well.

Lehkonen can be replaced by Poehling, who will be on a cheap second contract since he has not even been a regular to date in the NHL with his contract due to be extended at the same time as Kotkaniemi in the offseason. If nothing else, Poehling can play defensively and bring that to a 4th line, with a little more physicality than Lehkonen at the same time.

For a third line role alongside Toffoli and Kotkaniemi, Caufield might be up to the task on an ELC with no more than two Level 'A' bonuses, much like Suzuki's ELC. Montreal, at the most, would be on the hook for 1.350M should Caufield earn all of the 425K he can aim for in bonuses.

Poehling signing a bridge one-way contract at 1M and Ylonen at 925K, plus Evans at a reasonable contract for a 4th line (I don't see Evans getting any of the two Level 'A' bonuses he can aim for) would free up plenty of Cap space.

There would be 5.125M left over to address raises to Tatar, Danault and Kotkaniemi this coming offseason. At an average of 5.5M for both of Danault and Tatar, whichever way you want to slice that 11M pie, 3.2M would be coming off the 5.125M left.

That would leave strictly 1.925M to bridge Kotkaniemi which, in my mind, would be inadequate. Montreal would need to move Kulak as well to find the extra margin for a reasonable bridge contract nowhere less than 3.5M for a couple of seasons.

Replacing Kulak with an ELC contract at 925K would free up an extra 925K and leave Bergevin with 3.775M to address Kotkaniemi's situation.

Of course, Montreal could move a contract like Chiarot's or Edmundson's instead to free up more Cap space but, the marginal savings that would be added wouldn't provide enough Cap room to do more than bridge Kotkaniemi anyhow.

It's the following season that we would move on (more easily) from Chiarot or from Edmundson, plus Allen, at that point, to free up close to 4.5M once replacements were factored in. We might be forced to also move whichever of Chiarot or Edmundson wasn't initially moved, depending on what opportunities could be negotiated with either Suzuki or Romanov, long term deal VS short bridge contract. The 7.075M, after replacement value for the other veteran D was factored in, could provide many more options; longer bridge contracts, a long term and a shorter term bridge contract, etc.

Other contracts will come off the books shortly thereafter; Drouin at the end of the following season, Tofolli the one right after, Petry a year after that, Weber at any point once he starts earning just 1M in real money for the final three years of his contract, etc.

There's a lot of work to be done, including potentially trading players based on the roster's developing situation along the way.

The Cap will not be an albatross if Bergevin manages it well going forward but, that includes being able to re-sign both Tatar and Danault.
 

Scriptor

Registered User
Jan 1, 2014
7,776
4,747
Alzner counts as 1,958,333 against the cap next season

if you were to buyout Byron next summer,

we would save 2,866,667M in cap space in year 1
then we would save 1,666,667 in year 2
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 3
then it would cost 1,133,333 in year 4


not saying we should or shouldn't buy him out, just posting the numbers, which clearly would help and we will badly need all the money we can get. Danault is rumored to be in the 5.5 to 5.75M per, Tatar likely wants more then that as a guess. KK should get a nice raise for sure and whatever money we spend we need to keep in mind Suzuki gets paid the following summer.

Since we will likely have to trade all three of Byron, Armia and Lehkonen at some point, I'd consider letting Armia go after a sussessful playoff push with the Finn this postseason and convincing Seattle to take Byron by leaving Lehkonen unprotected for them.

8.4M gone from the books. Poehling (1M), Ylonen (925K) and Caufield (1.35M with two Level 'A' bonuses triggered on an ELC) as replacements.

Enough to re-sign Tatar and Danault and almost enough to re-sign Kotkaniemi to a 3.5M bridge contract. Trading Kulak and replacing him with a 925K ELC (Norlinder, Harris, Struble or Guhle) would do. ore than the job for KK's bridge contract at 3.775M left over.

Buying out Byron is always an option but, if it ever gets there, I think we might easily find a suitor by holding back the buyout amount of 1.133M in Cap and paying that out only for the two remaining years of his contract to the team that takes him in a trade. Byron at 2,27M might actually be quite attractive to some teams out there?
 

CHfan1

Registered User
Apr 23, 2012
8,024
9,252
I assume it will stay at 81.5M but, I think that what is more important is that it will remain a flat Cap. What that means is it won't be directly linked to the actual 50\50 split called upon by the CBA. I've heard it mentioned that, under this structure, there might be a 1M raise in the Cap ceiling to 82.5M to offer some relief for Cap-strapped teams. The league would rather do this than allow for amnesty buyouts again, from what I heard.

Still, we'll go with a Cap at 81.5M for this exercise...
.

I haven’t seen they’ll increase it give the teams relief, do you have a source on that.


Currently there is a set formula in the newest CBA for calculating the cap number. I’d expect it would stay the same with revenues way down and so much money going into escrow for the players to repay in future years.

From the CBA regarding the cap:

Thereafter (subject to the provisions above regarding the Extension Year):
• Upper Limit will remain at $81.5 Million until Preliminary HRR for the just completed League Year surpasses $3.3 Billion.

• For any League Year where Preliminary HRR is between $3.3 Billion and $4.8 Billion, the Upper Limit for the following League Year shall be between $81.5 Million and $82.5 Million on a pro rata basis (e.g., if Preliminary HRR is $4.05 Billion, the Upper Limit will be $82 Million).

• Once Preliminary HRR for the immediately preceding League Year surpasses $4.8 Billion, the Upper Limit will increase by $1 Million per League Year until the Escrow Balance is paid off.

• The parties can agree to increase the Upper Limit in excess of $1 Million in order to allow for a smoother transition into the ‘Lag’ formula.

• The parties agree to discuss the Upper Limit in good faith in the event projected or Actual HRR decreases on a year over year basis.

The above will be what the NHL uses to increase the Cap until escrow is repaid. Which could be after this CBA ends which is 2026.

CBA below

https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/NHLPA_NHL_MOU.pdf
 
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Supersonic

Registered User
May 27, 2013
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Ontario
So to even look a step further at 2022/2023, the Habs have about $24.5MM to sign:

- KK
- Suzuki
- Romanov

If they bridge KK that's still probably at least half of that gone, not included whoever we lose to the expansion in case that helps. IMO MB's biggest focus this offseason should be signing Tatar to a 2-3 year deal that doesn't handcuff them and keep the offense going. Fill in ELCs/cheap contracts where possible
 

Kudo Shinichi

Registered User
Apr 20, 2012
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I think for sure we will re-sign Danault, but not Tatar.
We will probably want to re-sign Armia as well.

Next year:
Caufield - Suzuki - Anderson
Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Toffoli
Poehling/Armia - Danault - Gallagher
Byron - Evans - Lehkonen

Caufield replaces Tatar, and Poehling replaces Armia if not re-signed.
 
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BaseballCoach

Registered User
Dec 15, 2006
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players that need to be signed,

Gianni Fairbrother
Rafael Harvey-Pinard
Joni Ikonen
Jacob LeGuerrier

also we have Hudon's rights till the summer

add in Caufield, hopefully Harris as players being signed.

currently Dichow has no team to play for next year
CapFriendly shows Ruscheinski as needing to be signed too. Is he committed to a college for next year and they don't know it?
 

angusyoung

The life of..The Party
Aug 17, 2014
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Heirendaar
i think they'll only sign Danault - and let tatar walk, so they don't have to protect him...maybe they circle back on him as a UFA...but they'll only sign one of them in-season

I can see a scenario where MB has a verbal agreement with TT to circumvent the issue of protecting prior to expansion draft takes place and he resigns when UFA opens.:crossfing
 

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