Continuing on from where we left off with the Central Division, it’s now time to take a look at final division in the NHL, the Western Conferences teams, Pacific Division.
*All figures according to CapGeek.com, with the Salary Cap being $69 million*
*2015-16 cap space does not include current unsigned RFA’s*
Part 4: Western Conference – Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks
2014-15 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 22 (11 forwards, 9 defensemen, 2 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $57,864,167
Overages: $1,150,000
Cap Space: $11,135,833
RFA’s Remaining: Jakob Silfverberg, Devante Smith-Pelly
Players for LTIR: Sheldon Souray (if needed)
Overview: The Ducks are one of the NHL’s best teams, and yet, they still find themselves with just over $11 million in cap space. This is a very unfamiliar sight for good teams. With only Silfverberg and Smith-Pelly left to bring back (which should come for around or less than $3 million combined), the Ducks are in an extremely good position financially moving forward.
2015-16 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 13 (6 forwards, 6 defensemen, 1 goalie)
Cap Payroll: $40,865,000
Cap Space: $28,135,000
RFA’s: Emerson Etem, Max Friberg
UFA’s: Matt Beleskey, Dany Heatley, Tim Jackman, Patrick Maroon, Sheldon Souray, Bryan Allen, Jason Lebarbera
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: Next offseason the Ducks have a few members of their youthful core that will be becoming free agents. By not over-spending this offseason the Ducks, with $28 million in cap space, left themselves more than enough room to bring back these guys. Also, if they feel like getting in on the free agent market next offseason, they will also be able to do so. However, with all the prospects that the Ducks have in the system, trades might be the more logical way to improve their team.
Arizona Coyotes
2014-15 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: (13 forwards, 8 defensemen, 2 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $57,893,611
Overages: None
Cap Space: $11,106,389
RFA’s Remaining: None
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: The Arizona Coyotes (feels weird to write) are basically done with their offseason moves. Being one of the teams that don’t usually like to spend, the $11 million in cap space will likely remain for the rest of the season.
2015-16 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 12 (6 forwards, 5 defensemen, 1 goalie)
Cap Payroll: $36,566,111
Cap Space: $32,433,889
RFA’s: Mikkel Boedker, Brandon McMillan, Brandon Gormley, Mark Visentin
UFA’s: Martin Erat, Antoine Vermette, B.J. Crombeen, David Moss, Rob Klinkhammer, Zbynek Michalek, David Schlemko, Devan Dubnyk
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: Restricted free agents Boedker, Gormley and Visentin are a big part of the Coyotes future, so locking them up will be a priority next offseason. Boedker will likely cost somewhere in the $3 – $4 million range, while the other two RFA’s should come relatively cheaply since they lack NHL experience. None of the UFA’s, excluding maybe Michalek and Vermette, play a large role on the Coyotes and will likely either be brought back for cheap or replaced by other players. Despite the mass amount of cap space Arizona will have, there is no reason to think they will actually use a significant portion of it.
Calgary Flames
2014-15 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 20 (12 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $51,711,667
Overages: None
Cap Space: $17,288,333
RFA’s Remaining: Lance Bouma
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: With 20 players on their roster, Calgary still sits just $711,667 over the salary cap floor. Re-signing Bouma will likely cost them around another $700,000, so they will be just over $1.4 million above with a nearly filled roster. Another forward signing before the start of the season wouldn’t be surprising.
2015-16 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 14 (8 forwards, 5 defensemen, 1 goalie)
Cap Payroll: $41,436,667
Cap Space: $27,563,333
RFA’s: Mikael Backlund, Paul Byron, T.J. Brodie, Corban Knight, Sven Baertschi, Max Reinhart
UFA’s: Curtis Glencross, Brian McGrattan, Karri Ramo
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: Next offseason Calgary will have to shell out a little bit of money to retain some key pieces going forward in Backlund, Brodie, Knight, Baertschi and Reinhart. After several solid seasons on bad Flames’ teams, Glencross will likely be moving on from the team to join a contender, so his salary will have to be replaced. With a ton of young players looking to crack the roster next season, the Flames will need to acquire salary via trade or free agency (similar to what Buffalo has done this offseason) just to meet the cap floor. It’ll be interesting to see if any solid free agents are willing to join the kids in Calgary, knowing that the franchise is finally on the upswing.
Edmonton Oilers
2014-15 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 21 (13 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $60,217,500
Overages: None
Cap Space: $8,782,500
RFA’s Remaining: Justin Schultz, Philip Larsen
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: The only remaining major obstacle for the Oilers this offseason is signing RFA Justin Schultz to a contract. Schultz is an extremely gifted offensive-defenseman who when it’s all said and done, will likely sign a bridge contract, then go for a major pay-day in a few years from now. A bridge deal for Schultz would likely come in at $2.5 – $3.5 million per season over two years, leaving Edmonton with over $5 million in cap space.
2015-16 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 12 (8 forwards, 3 defensemen, 1 goalie)
Cap Payroll: $49,637,500
Cap Space: $19,362,500
RFA’s: Nail Yakupov, Mark Arcobello, Anton Lander, Keith Aulie, Martin Marincin
UFA’s: Jesse Joensuu, Jeff Petry, Viktor Fasth
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: By this time next year we will finally have an answer as to if Yakupov will eventually be traded for help on the defensive-end or not. If he stays, expect him to also be looked at for a bridge contract, barring a massive influx in production this coming season. If he does explode this year, getting him under long-term contract (similar to Hall, Eberle, and Nuge) might be the smarter choice. Out of the other free agents only Petry, Fasth, Marincin, and maybe Arcobello are players GM Craig MacTavish will really want to keep. With almost $20 million to do so, and the core already locked up, bringing back or bringing in players shouldn’t be too hard.
Los Angeles Kings
2014-15 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 23 (13 forwards, 8 defensemen, 2 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $67,441,894
Overages: None
Cap Space: $1,558,106
RFA’s Remaining: Dwight King
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: Restricted free agent Dwight King is the last piece to the Kings’ puzzle. It is easy to see why it has taken this long to try to get him signed, as the Kings are close to the cap maximum and King is looking for a raise from the $750,000 he made last year, after scoring 15 goals and 30 points last season. King has filed for arbitration, which will occur on August 1st if the two sides can’t come to an agreement beforehand. Expect King to rejoin the Kings on a multiyear deal before that, something like three-years, $4.5 million sounds fair to me. With a cap hit of $1.5 million, it would be double his pay from last season, and keep the Kings $58,106 below the cap.
2015-16 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 12 (6 forwards, 5 defensemen, 1 goalie)
Cap Payroll: $51,064,394
Cap Space: $17,935,606
RFA’s: Kyle Clifford, Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli, Jordan Nolan, Jake Muzzin, Martin Jones
UFA’s: Justin Williams, Jarret Stoll, Adam Cracknell, Robyn Regehr
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: Next offseason is going to be a tricky one for GM Dean Lombardi and the Kings. With key young pieces in Clifford, Pearson, Toffoli, Muzzin and Jones all up as RFA’s, and key veterans Williams, Stoll and Regehr up as UFA’s, $18 million in cap space may not quite be enough. With his playoff heroics, it’s safe to assume Williams alone will get around $5 million a season. Throw in Stoll and Regehr for another $5 million combined and that is more than half the cap space gone with all the RFA’s left unsigned. The group of key RFA’s mentioned above could easily pull in the remaining $8 million, or more, once they are signed. Except some trades coming out of L.A. throughout this season, or next offseason to free up some cap.
San Jose Sharks
2014-15 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 23 (14 forwards, 7 defensemen, 2 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $62,855,000
Overages: $175,000
Cap Space: $6,145,000
RFA’s Remaining: None
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: The San Jose Sharks have a full roster, and barring a trade (of say Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau), the list of 23 players is pretty much what you will see on the ice at the beginning of next season. The combination of having major trade chips and just over $6 million in cap space leaves the Sharks with plenty of options if they do ultimately want to shake things up.
2015-16 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 15 (10 forwards, 4 defensemen, 1 goalie)
Cap Payroll: $50,530,000
Cap Space: $18,470,000
RFA’s: None
UFA’s: Tyler Kennedy, James Sheppard, Andrew Desjardins, John Scott, Justin Braun, Scott Hannan, Matt Irwin, Antti Niemi
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: Having no RFA’s (currently on the active roster) heading into next offseason with only Braun, Irwin, and Niemi as the UFA’s of importance, San Jose should be rather busy with trades and free agent signings this time next year. If they do choose to bring back those three players, it would likely cost no more than $8 million, leaving $10 million to play with.
Vancouver Canucks
2014-15 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 24 (13 forwards, 8 defensemen, 3 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $67,584,444
Overages: None
Cap Space: $1,415,556
RFA’s Remaining: None
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: The Canucks, under new GM Jim Benning, certainly weren’t afraid to spend money this offseason. After bringing in UFA’s Ryan Miller, Radim Vrbata, and Derek Dorsett for a combined cap hit of just under $13 million, Vancouver has a full roster with just under $1.5 million in cap space. In other words, they are likely done wheeling and dealing for this year.
2015-16 Season:
Total players under NHL contract: 13 (8 forwards, 3 defensemen, 2 goalies)
Cap Payroll: $54,200,000
Cap Space: $14,800,000
RFA’s: Linden Vey, Luca Sbisa, Chris Tanev, Yannick Weber, Frank Corrado, Ryan Stanton, Jacob Markstrom
UFA’s: Shawn Matthias, Derek Dorsett, Brad Richardson, Tom Sestito
Players on LTIR: None
Overview: Basically as it reads, if you are a between the ages of 21 and 26, an important part of the Vancouver Canucks, and your name isn’t Zack Kassian, Eddie Lack, or Nick Bonino, your contract is expiring next offseason. The Canucks will most definitely have their work cut out for them, with players such as Vey, Sbisa, Tanev, Weber, Corrado, Stanton, Markstrom, Richardson, and Matthias all likely to be retained. With a smidge under $15 million in cap space it should be doable, but it might be tight. Don’t be surprised to see some other salary shipped out of Vancouver to make sure they have money to spend this time next year (Bieksa?).
Thank you all for reading and commenting on my Salary Cap outlook’s for the next two seasons, it has been fun!
Salary Cap Outlooks for the Atlantic | Metropolitan | Central | Pacific
