Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Looking at 10 teams that are in salary cap hell and a few ideas on how they could get out from it.
Anaheim Ducks – $0 salary cap space with 22 players under contract. Ryan Kesler will go on the LTIR once the season starts. They still need to find a backup goalie.
Arizona Coyotes – $0 salary cap space with 22 players under contract. Marian Hossa will get LTIR’d. In the last year of their deals and potential trade deadline trade candidates: Alex Goligoski, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jason Demers and Derek Stepan.
Edmonton Oilers – $732,509 salary cap space with 22 players under contract and still need to re-sign Ethan Bear. They’ll have nine UFAs next year and Benoit Pouliot‘s buyout will be off the books.
New York Islanders – $8.9 million in cap space with 20 players under contract. Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock need to be re-signed. Leo Komarov could be a buyout candidate.
St. Louis Blues – $0 salary cap space with 21 players under contract and needing to re-sign Vince Dunn. Tyler Bozak could be a trade candidate. Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen are LTIR candidates.
Tampa Bay Lightning – $2.9 milliion in salary cap space with 18 players under contract and needing to re-sign Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak. Players in the rumor mill this offseason: Tyler Johnson, Steven Stamkos, Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde.
Toronto Maple Leafs – $0 projected cap space with 23 players under contract. Joey Anderson is their lone remaining RFA. GM Kyle Dubas has already said they could go with as low as 20 roster players at times.
Vancouver Canucks – $0 cap space with 23 players under contract. It’s a surprise that they haven’t bought out Sven Baertschi‘s $3.37 million.
Vegas Golden Knights – $0 salary cap space with 21 players under contract. Jonathan Marchessault, Alec Martinez and Max Pacioretty have been in the rumor mill this offseason.
Winnipeg Jets – $27,144 in salary cap space with 21 players under contract. Jack Roslovic and Sami Niku are RFAs. Bryan Little will be LTIR’d. Roslovic and Patrik Laine have been in the rumor mill.