Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Arizona Coyotes
Current Cap Hit: $57,514,547 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Jakob Chychrun (Two years remaining, $925K)
F Lawson Crouse (Two years remaining, $894K)
F Max Domi (One year remaining, $863K)
F Christian Dvorak (Two years remaining, $839K)
F Clayton Keller (Three years remaining, $886K)
F Brendan Perlini (Two years remaining, $863K)
F Dylan Strome (Three years remaining, $863K)
Potential Bonuses
Chychrun: $425K
Crouse: $708K (AAV over the contract; amounts vary by year)
Domi: $500K
Dvorak: $268K (AAV over the contract; amounts vary by year)
Keller: $788K (AAV over the contract; amounts vary by year)
Perlini: $500K
Strome: $2.475MM
Total: $5.664MM
The Coyotes lead the league by a considerable margin when it comes to players on entry-level contracts which is why they find themselves so far under the Upper Limit. Domi was banged up last season but quietly played at a 50+ point pace once again. Repeating that would give himself a very good chance to skip the bridge contract and sign something long-term.
The other forwards aren’t quite in that spot (at least yet). Crouse was a regular last season but in more of a depth role and if that is the case again this season, he’s a candidate for a bridge deal in 2019. Dvorak had a strong rookie season and if he can build on that, he could conceivably get a long-term deal. Keller and Strome are just starting the first year of their contracts and while Keller projects to make an impact fairly quickly, that may not be the case for Strome. Lastly, Perlini was up and down at times in his rookie campaign. He should play more of a regular role this season but it’s still too early to tell whether or not he’ll be a regular top-six a couple of years from now.
As for Chychrun, he had a very strong rookie season which had him trending towards being a candidate for a long-term second contract. However, knee surgery has set him back somewhat as he’s still a long way away from being ready to play in 2017-18. If he picks up right where he left off, not only will he be likely to get a big second deal but it wouldn’t be surprising if Arizona were to try to extend him a year early. If he has some difficulties though, the early extension will certainly be off the table and it will be his play in 2018-19 that ultimately dictates which way his post-ELC goes.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
D Adam Clendening ($650K, RFA)
D Kevin Connauton ($1MM, UFA)
G Louis Domingue ($1.05MM, RFA)
F Anthony Duclair ($1.2MM, RFA)
G Antti Raanta ($1MM, UFA)
F Brad Richardson ($2.083MM, UFA)
F Tobias Rieder ($2.25MM, RFA)
D Luke Schenn ($1.25MM, UFA)
Rieder’s contract talks last offseason dragged out and his 2016-17 campaign was a lot like the previous year. If that happens again, he’s going to have a hard time getting a long-term deal. If there was ever a prototypical candidate for a bridge contract, Duclair was it. Two years ago, he was a legitimate top-six forward while last season, he struggled to produce in both the NHL and AHL. A big year from him would go a long way towards getting him some contract security. As for Richardson, he did well in limited action but spent most of the year on injured reserve due to a broken leg. He’s likely to have a minor role this season with the youngsters expected to get most ice time so he will probably have to settle for a lesser contract next summer.
Schenn is a typical depth/third pairing player who is best used in a sheltered role. He had to wait for several weeks last year in free agency to land this contract and there’s a good chance he’ll be holding out hope to simply land one at a similar rate next summer. Connauton battled injuries last season while playing a minimal role when he was in the lineup. A two-way contract at a lesser NHL salary is where he’s heading towards unless he can hold down a regular spot in 2017-18. Similarly, Clendening was mostly a spare part last year and wound up taking the league minimum early in free agency. He landed a one-way deal this time around but if he winds up being in and out again, he also could be a two-way candidate.
Raanta enters this season with a lot to prove. He is getting his first chance to be a legitimate starting goaltender and if he can build on his time with the Rangers and maintain that with a number one workload, he’ll position himself to potentially be the top goaltender on the open market a year from now. With that, a major pay raise and job security would be in order. On the flip side, if he scuffles, he may slot in at a rate more comparable to the top backups which this summer checked in around $2.5MM. Domingue looked like he might be a goalie of the future for Arizona but his first full season as an NHL backup didn’t go well. He isn’t under the microscope as much as Raanta will be but his performance will determine whether he’s still part of their future plans or whether they may be better suited looking elsewhere for a backup.
Two Years Remaining
F Dave Bolland ($5.5MM, UFA)
F Nick Cousins ($1MM, RFA)
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Niklas Hjalmarsson ($4.1MM, UFA)
F Jordan Martinook ($1.8MM, UFA)
Bolland technically remains on the books (and the Coyotes won’t need to put him on LTIR this year) but isn’t at all in their plans and won’t be back with them or anyone else in all likelihood. Martinook has emerged as a quality third line forward over the past couple of seasons. With several entry-level guys expiring around that same time, it’s possible that one of them takes his place at that time but if not, it’s plausible that he could return with a cap hit in the $2MM range if he continues at this pace. Cousins was brought in this summer and should slot into a bottom-six role. Barring a big uptick in his production, his next contract shouldn’t be too much higher.
While there aren’t really forwards of note in this situation, that certainly can’t be said for the defense. Ekman-Larsson is their undisputed top player and is quietly one of the more prominent blueliners in the league. He will still be in his late 20s when he hits the open market and a max-term contract is certainly a possibility along with a sizable raise from his current $5.5MM. Hjalmarsson was brought in this summer to play with Ekman-Larsson and is a quality top-four option. He’ll be 32 in free agency and it will be his last chance to get a long-term deal but his next deal could be one where the longer the duration, the lower the cap hit will be.
Three Years Remaining
None (aside from Keller and Strome who were covered earlier)
Four Or More Years Remaining
D Jason Demers ($3.938MM through 2020-21)*
D Alex Goligoski ($5.475MM through 2020-21)
F Derek Stepan ($6.5MM through 2020-21)
* – Florida is retaining $563K of Demers’ contract
Stepan was the other part of the big offseason trade with the Rangers and he will slot in as their top line center right away while allowing prospects like Strome to develop without having to be rushed. He hasn’t typically been a high-end point producer but his all-around game is good enough to make him a good fit for a team that’s still loading up now. If for whatever reason it doesn’t work out, they would have no difficulty moving him down the road either.
Demers was acquired earlier this month and gives the Coyotes a quality second pairing player on a pretty reasonable deal with the Panthers footing part of the bill. He’s more of a number four blueliner but that’s the type of money those players are getting on the open market. Goligoski has quietly been a consistently effective point getter over the past several years and that was the case in his first year with Arizona. His playing time may take a dip with Hjalmarsson being added but he’s still a player who can handle top pairing minutes when called upon at a contract that’s below what most top pairing players receive.
Buyouts
F Mike Ribeiro ($1.944MM through 2019-20)
F Antoine Vermette ($1.25MM in 2017-18)
Retained Salary Transactions
G Mike Smith ($1.417MM through 2018-19)
Still To Sign
None
Best Value: Raanta
Worst Value: Bolland
Looking Ahead
Considering the Coyotes are a low spending team, it sounds funny to have to mention that their cap situation now is way better than last year where they had no space remaining and were well into LTIR. Because of all of their young players on rookie contracts, they have plenty of flexibility for a while yet.
If they are going to want to keep this core together though, their payroll budget is going to have to go up pretty quickly though. Not only will their youngsters need bigger second contracts but they’ll either have to extend or replace Raanta next summer with Ekman-Larsson in particular looking at a big jump the year after that. That said, they should still be under the cap when this all happens so the bigger question moving forward for them won’t be the cap but whether they get the financial flexibility from ownership to make it all happen.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.