Running Salary Cap Chart Update

[Matt 1,049]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've added a small section to the Salary Cap & Contracts Charts page on LetsGoWings.com:

Free Agent & Full-Season Equivalent Cap Space Figures

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.

Those figures are available in the Active Cap Summary section on the right, under "The Bottom Line".

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.

(Final 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.)

[imisssergei 0]

I was under the impression that the NHL used the number of games as the point of reference to how much a player is to be paid. The same would go for suspensions. A player suspended loses X amount of game checks, not the amount of days he was out.

No?

[Matt 1,049]

I was under the impression that the NHL used the number of games as the point of reference to how much a player is to be paid. The same would go for suspensions. A player suspended loses X amount of game checks, not the amount of days he was out.

No?

I'm not privvy to information as to how the Red Wings actually pay their players, but for salary cap purposes it applies to days that players are on the active roster.

I'll turn you over to the fantastic NHLSCAP.com web site for clarification: http://nhlscap.com/cap_faq.htm

[toby91_ca 620]

I am not 100% sure of this, but I think you need to consider salary commitments into the future as well. In other words, you could trade for a player making $6 million now and only have a cap hit of $3 million for this season, but if they are still under contract for next year, you would have to add $6 million to next year's total salary commitments and if that puts you over the cap, you have issues.

Again, I'm not sure about this and haven't read the particulars in the CBA or anything, but for whatever reason, I'm thinking that needs to be taken into account.

That said, it probably wouldn't be an issue for most teams because A) Most teams do not have a lot of salary tied up in future years (not a factual statement, I'm just assuming) and B) big name players being traded later in the year are likely not under contract for future years (Hossa), therefore, becomes a non-issue anyway.

[Matt 1,049]

Toby -- You're right, you do need to have that space available. The most recent example of that was the return of Scott Neidermayer to the Ducks. For the sake of the chart, like you said, I'm not going to add that note in except as a possible footnote somewhere on the page.

[Matt 1,049]

Just to update on the Red Wings' current estimated salary cap space.....

Projected end-of-season space hasn't changed. It's still roughly $5,474,189

However, the full-season equivalent has jumped a little over $916,000 from last week to $12,043,174.

Basically, the Red Wings can now afford to take on roughly $12-million in full-season player salaries. (For argument's sake, they could afford to trade for BOTH Mats Sundin ($5.5m) and Marian Hossa ($6.0m) right now and they'd fit in under the cap. The likelihood of that happening? Zero, zilch, nada... But the capabilty *is* there.)

[Booster313 138]

Matt,

Just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work...you continually improve the site!

[ruarc' 2]

great info.

[zata40 3]

Matt your amazing

[Bannedforlife 403]

Does anyone know the contact stipulations that would allow Hasek and Chelios to receive their full bonus amounts?

[Matt 1,049]

If they go generally by last year's benchmarks, the majority of Hasek's will be made in the playoffs. Though I am not completely certain on this, I do believe there are games-played bonuses in each contract.