Salary Cap: Your salary cap ideas - Get creative!

[banks]

So we know the team is going to be totally maxed out at the salary cap for the foreseeable future. And we've still got to put a roster together. So it's likely that the management team is going to have to be a bit creative to find ways to navigate roster changes.

Dubas and Co. have already pulled some interesting cap moves. Some of them weren't pretty, like the pick to dump Marleau. But some moves have been pretty interesting, like bringing back the Clarkson LTIR contract, and getting Barrie with only a tiny cap number.

But we here on HF can be pretty creative ourselves! How do you think they manage to keep the team cap compliant? Any ideas about how we can get players for smaller cap hits than they're worth? Can you find ways to use the teams bottomless pile of money to make cap space go farther?

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[Cor]

1. Draft well
2. Invest in Europe and Russia to keep the Rosen’s, the Borgman’s, the Ozhiganov’s and the Mikheyev’s coming.
3. Continue to target free agents such as Nick Shore, Jason Spezza, Kenny Agostino, Pontus Aberg, Tyler Gaudet to always have someone who can step into a 4th line role for near league minimum and not look out of place.
4. Continue to allow prospects such as Moore, Timashov who weren’t blue-chippers to earn opportunities


essentially, Kyle Dubas needs to continue what he’s doing.

 

[Funk21]

I suspect that Kap will be shopped this offseason. Look I am not jumping the gun because he had a bad couple of games playing on his off-Wing but it’s very likely we won’t be able to keep a third line winger making over 3 when we have such glaring holes in our D.

Obviously it depends on players like Engvall and Korshkov this season with the Marlies. I think our 4th liners will consist of league minimum salaries as there is a loophole in the CBA that allows teams to go over the cap if a team has less than the 20 man roster provided the player makes less than the league average. That is why Dubas signed those boatload of players.

The play of players like Ceci, Barrie and Muzzin will dictate if offers will be tendered. Also what they are looking for contract wise.

Not sure if there are any LTIR players still kicking around but I wouldn’t be surprised for them to kick tires on that.

 

[qqaz]

There's still the Patrick Kane loophole, if I remember correctly.

It requires a player getting hurt before the TDL, and then getting healthy right when the playoffs start. So it's not really something you can control. But It happened to Kane back in 2015.

Kane goes down, and the team gets all this cap space while he is on IR. The Blackhawks traded big for Timonen and Vermette. Then Kane comes back for the playoffs anyway, when there is no salary cap. They won the Stanley Cup that year.

 

[BlueForever75]

Trade Kapanen and Johnsson for players their age but with a different skill set that will be cheaper on the cap. I am looking for a deal similar to when we acquired Darcy Tucker way back when for Johnson a winger that was more skilled.

Target players like Bertuzzi in DET or Lemieux with NYR. Cheaper cap hits, bring size and grit with upside. Let players like Moore and Micheyev continue to progress into skill\grit players as they are.

Team becomes bigger and grittier without losing too much skill and we create ourselves cap space in return without touching our core.

 

[PromisedLand]

Fire Dubas

 

[Canada4Gold]

Creative? MLSE is so rich they can buy other teams tickets and jerseys for a combined 1.2 billion dollars. That’ll put 20 million more on next years cap and we can sign Barrie, Muzzin, and Pietrangelo. Creative enough?

 

[Once]

I think it boils down to how we draft/find and develop. We’re already seeing this unfold with the likes of Mikheyev, Rosen, Moore, Timashov. Sign guys who are looking to reboot their careers like Ennis or are still effective at the end of their careers ala Spezza.

In saying all of this, expect guys like Kap and Johnsson to be expendable

 

[Buds17]

In this cap league, there has to be at least one internal (Marlie) or external (ELC undrafted free agent) promotion per season. With the salary structure being top heavy, it's important to have cheap but effective play at the bottom of the lineup (fourth line, third pairing defencemen, backup goalie). Maybe that comes from players looking to re-establish themselves, or players willing to take less on a short term deal to be on a contender. Going with less than a 23 man roster isn't the most ideal situation, but having the AHL team close by has its advantages.

 

[JustJokinenAround]

i was playing nhl 20 franchise mode and from year 1 to 2 the cap went up to 87 million, we will be fine

 

[baton elevated]

Slap franchise tags on 1 player from each team and then start the cap count. in our case we would be 11.6 million under the cap with AM franchised. optional for lower based teams that need to get to the floor.

 

[ToneDog]

Trade a piece having a significant cap hit. Not going to happen soon but keep losing in the playoffs and you move a Marner for a blue chip prospect(s) and a first or firsts. Frees up $11M to sign 2-3 solid UFAs. As a bonus you also send Paul Marner packing.

 

[baton elevated]

Trade a piece having a significant cap hit. Not going to happen soon but keep losing in the playoffs and you move a Marner for a blue chip prospect(s) and a first or firsts. Frees up $11M to sign 2-3 solid UFAs. As a bonus you also send Paul Marner packing.

The premise is a good one Tone but man it hurts to have to cut loose a player that is good, drafted and developed by us. We shouldn't have to be penalized for great drafting.

 

[Trapper]

Ensure the money you spend makes you strong in all areas. C, D, G and support.
No use having all the money spent on one group and a 10 cent D or vice versa.

Balance not overload.

 

[baton elevated]

Ensure the money you spend makes you strong in all areas. C, D, G and support.
No use having all the money spent on one group and a 10 cent D or vice versa.

Balance not overload.

If we recognize this issue, I'm sure management does too. A work in progress hopefully.

 

[Trapper]

If we recognize this issue, I'm sure management does too. A work in progress hopefully.

Obviously we do everything to protect the top tier players but at some point (depending on UFA status, playoff showing, etc.) some hard decisions may need to be made.

 

[deletethis]

Use the $1M AAV guaranteed contract in 2020-21. This will attract the absolute best "tweeners". Contract can be fully buried. Could also use it for squirreling away a better vet (maybe returning from an injury or not suitable for a full season) by demoting the vet on paper in September, not really using the player on the Marlies until late December then promoting the player in the new year. It's like a $2M AAV over a 1/2 season for the player and a $500K cap accrual for the team.

Identify pure role players and offer them long term deals at low cap hits. i.e. Freddy Gauthier for 5 years at ~ $1.1M.

Cull the prospect contract list down to a lower number to maximize the number of support vet deals and European free agent deals. Most prospects don't pan out, an organization usually has a very good idea about a player's ceiling after the prospect's first pro season. Long development timelines for prospects are impractical under the current CBA (waivers, free agency at 27).

 

[baton elevated]

As much as we love JT coming home and not paying a player/prospects for him to do so, it has become our Trojan Horse. It upset the salary balance for this team.

 

[ToneDog]

The premise is a good one Tone but man it hurts to have to cut loose a player that is good, drafted and developed by us. We shouldn't have to be penalized for great drafting.

Agree 100% but unless something changes cap wise or this cast wins a Stanley Cup within the next x years (where x is the number of years management can accept not winning), not many options. The $40M quartet have to win you a cup, because shuffling the supporting cast making the minimum is not going to do it IMO.

 

[deletethis]

Not particularly creative but don't allow Mikheyev to play his way into a contract the team can't afford.

 

[Confucius]

Not particularly creative but don't allow Mikheyev to play his way into a contract the team can't afford.

Hey Babs didnt know you posted here.

 

[baton elevated]

Agree 100% but unless something changes cap wise or this cast wins a Stanley Cup within the next x years (where x is the number of years management can accept not winning), not many options. The $40M quartet have to win you a cup, because shuffling the supporting cast making the minimum is not going to do it IMO.

Agreed

 

[deletethis]

Hey Babs didnt know you posted here.

The salary cap is his least concern.

 

[Buds17]

Not particularly creative but don't allow Mikheyev to play his way into a contract the team can't afford.

He's still an RFA after this contract ends. Unless he specifically prices himself out due to excessive contract demands relative to his on-ice contribution, his emergence would still hopefully allow the team to trade someone under contract.

Ideally, a team's highest paid players are also their best. Still, I wouldn't like to see the team place the cap over the Cup.

 

[banks]

Here's one I'm thinking. Trade for a player making a million or less, and have the other team retain salary, making the cap hit for us even lower than the minimum 700K.

Obviously we would have to pay a premium to do that, as other teams wouldn't want to do us any favours. But the price shouldn't be too high if the player is only making about a million a year to start with. It could go something like this (obviously just examples):

Trade for Nick Down from Washington. He makes only 750K for the next 3 seasons, and is a reasonable 4th liner. If we send back more than equal value so that Washington retains half his salary, then we get a 4th liner for only 375K for the next 3 years. Super helpful! Could work with players like Pirri, Goodrow, Aston-Reese, Carpenter, Stalock, DeSmith.

Or, what about orchestrating the deal from the start? Let's say were talking to Columbus* about a Kapanen trade next off season. There's no rule against a sign-and-trade. So maybe, as part of the Kapanen deal, Columbus agrees to sign Tyler Ennis^ for 3 years at 950K, then trade him to us with half retention.

Columbus gets Kapanen for less than his cap hit, even when the money retained for Ennis is added in, since we've frontloaded it and paid out the biggest year. Columbus is happy.

Ennis gets signed for a reasonable contract, and good term, and knew his destination all along. Ennis is happy.

Toronto gets a serviceable player for only 475K for three years! Toronto is happy.

*or any real-dollar budget team
^or another forward worth about that much