Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Will Be About $7.5 million Under Cap When Season Starts

Published

2 years ago

July 18, 2022

The Red Wings are trying to reach an agreement with Filip Zadina on a new contract

Even after Steve Yzerman’s free agent spending spree, the Detroit Red Wings can still enter the season with more than $7 million in salary cap space.

According to Capfriendly.com, the Red Wings have $10.296 million in cap space remaining with restricted free agents Filip Zadina and Jake Walman still to sign.

Walman filed for arbitration. He made $750,000 last season and could earn $1 million or more for this season.

The low-end comparable players earn $1 million and the high-end comparable is probably someone like defenseman Niko Mikkolo, who received a one-year deal from the St. Louis Blues for $1.9 million. Both Mikkola and Walman are 26. Walman has played 76 NHL games and registered 12 points, while Mikkolo has 88 games and 17 points.

Zadina does not have arbitration rights. His comparables are all over the map, although his best comparable may be Arizona’s Barrett Hayton. Both players had 24 points last season, although Hayton did it in 14 fewer games. Hayton is also a restricted free agent and hasn’t yet signed.

The low-end comparable for Zadina is Detroit’s Michael Rasmussen who is at $1.46 million AAV for a three-year contract he signed after the 2020-21 season. Of course, Rasmussen is now a more productive player.

Another low-end comparable for Zadina is Columbus forward Alexandre Texier at $1.525 million AAV.

The high-end comparable for Zadina is New York Rangers forward Filip Chytil, who is $2.3 million AAV for two years.

Red Wings Salary Cap Remains Manageable

If Walman signs for $1 million and Zadina comes in at $1.8 million for two years. that would leave the Red Wings at roughly $7.5 million under the cap. That number will rise if Robby Fabbri stays on LITR (Long-term Injured Reserve) for a lengthy period.

The Red Wings’ salary cap outlook is favorable moving forward. Yzerman will have good flexibility moving ahead. He has 10 players signed for next season for $39.2 million. That will go up to 12 players for more than $50 million if Yzerman re-signs Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin. Pius Suter, Oskar Sundqvist, Adam Erne, Olli Maatta, Jordan Oesterle and Alex Nedeljkovic all come off the books next season unless they receive a new contract.

Richard Panik’s $1.3 million retained salary is gone. Frans Nielsen’s $500,000 buyout hit comes off the books and Justin Abdelkader’s buyout penalty goes from $2.3 million to $1.05 million.