Posted by Matt Schwartz

02:11AM - Sunday, January 06, 2008

The Salary Cap & Contract Charts has gotten an update to display a new figure: full-season equivalent contract space. Find out who the Wings could afford now that they couldn't at the beginning of the season.

Remember, these figures are not to be considered 100% accurate but should be very close to what the Red Wings' actual salary cap figure is.

These figures are available in the Active Cap Summary section on the right, under "The Bottom Line" on the Salary Cap & Contract Charts page here on the site. (You can find it under the "Insider" menu tab.)

That said, examples:

Free Agent Space: Consider this the "Peter Forsberg" or "Teemu Selanne" figure, since those two are the most prominent free agents. As of today, January 6th, the Red Wings could theoretically sign Forsberg (or Selanne) for no more than $5,474,189. (Not that they would, anyway, since the club would keep $1-million or so in space as a precaution.)

Full-Season Equivalent Space: This is the one that should help the most. This figure will help you contemplate what full-season contracts the Red Wings can afford to add to their roster and still stay under the salary cap. For example, Marian Hossa. Hossa signed a 3-year, $18-million contract with the Thrashers two years ago. His salary cap figure is therefore $6-million.

As you'll see on the chart page at the link above, the NHL season is considered to last 187 days, of which January 6th is Day 95. Therefore, the Thrashers have already paid $3,048,170 of his $6,000,000 cap number. The Wings would just be responsible for the remainder. When you figure in the active contracts that are currently being paid out by the club, the Red Wings can afford to take on the full-season contract equivalent of $11,126,874 -- more than enough to include Hossa's full-season contract equivalent.


That said... There are still A LOT of variables that will affect this figure, both up and down. Player call-ups, like Hartigan, will seep space from this total. However, the $11-million figure increases rapidly the closer the team gets to the trade deadline without making any dramatic roster moves/trades.

Also consider that regardless of who's available the Red Wings will keep some salary space available for player call-ups due to injuries, etc. So while the club's estimated cap space (as of January 6th's roster) is $5,474,189, the team won't use all of it.


(Note: If anyone sees an error with how the salary cap numbers/space is figured please feel free to let me know -- I want to keep it as accurate as possible.)