Red Wings Salary Cap Space Will Buy Less Than You Think

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has $21.34 million in cap space available heading into the NHL draft and can spend roughly $14 million of it on new players.

The numbers, according to puckpedia.com, show Yzerman currently has seven players left to sign to complete a 23-person roster.

Already under contract: Goalies (2) Cam Talbot and Petr Mrazek; defensemen (5) Moritz Seider, Ben Chiarot, Simon Edvinsson, Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl and forwards (9) Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, Marco Kasper, Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Michael Rasmussen, Vladimir Tarasenko and Carter Mazur.

Mazur’s presence on the list reflects the fact he was on the Detroit roster when he was injured last season. He may or may not make the big club. He is still waiver exempt. But for the purpose of determining how much cap space the Red Wings have available, we will assume that either Mazur or another entry level contract player (Axel Sandin Pellikka, Michael Brandsegg Nygard, Nate Danielson, etc.) will make the roster coming out of training camp.

Still to sign: Unrestricted free agent forwards (1): Patrick Kane; Restricted free agent forwards (2): Elmer Soderblom and Jonatan Berggren; RFA defenseman: Albert Johansson

Based on AFP Analytics salary projections, it would cost $1.032 million for a one-year deal to sign Berggren, $1.185 million for Johansson and $1.1 million for Soderblom. That’s roughly $3.3 million for the three deals. That would lower Yzerman’s cap space to approximately $18 million.

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AFP Analytics says it will cost $3.4 million (plus bonuses) for Kane, but we will give him $4 million. That takes Detroit down to $14 million for three players. When you hear that Marner may want $14 million and Sam Bennett could seek $10 million, Detroit’s available space won’t last long.

Buyouts Could Be a Strategy

The Red Wings could increase their cap space through buyouts or making trades that send salaries back the other way.

The most likely players to be bought out: Holl and Gustafsson. Holl offers the biggest increase in cap space. He has one season remaining at $3.4 million. His cap hit would be reduced to $1.133 million for each of the next two seasons. That would increase the team’s salary cap by $2.266 million. In this scenario, the Red Wings would then have $16.266 million for four players.

If the Red Wings, bought out Gustafsson (one year remaining at $2 million , they could add another $1.333 million to the salary cap for the upcoming season. That would raise it to $17.6 million for five players. Keep in mind that two of those players could be entry level players (like William Wallinder and Brandsegg-Nygard for example) who would have cap hits of roughly $1 million.

Yzerman could buy out a player with a higher salary.  That creates bigger savings immediately. For example, Compher has three years remaining at $5.1 million per season. A buyout reduces his cap hit to $1.6 million. But the negative is his buyout would be spread over six years. That can be aggravating. For example, the Red Wings are still taking a cap space hit for Justin Abdelkader’s buyout . Obviously, trades would change the outlook if Detroit was sending back salaried players. Jason Robertson, Marco Rossi and Bowen Byram are players that could be traded at the NHL draft.

But even at $14 million, the Red Wings are in a position probably to sign one high profile free agent and perhaps make a trade for another prominent player. With some managerial creativity and maybe a buyout, the Red Wings may be able to do more.   W N