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 2018-19 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.
Calgary Flames
Current Cap Hit: $71,961,710 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
Matthew Tkachuk (one year, $925K)
Potential Bonuses
Tkachuk: $850K
Tkachuk followed up a strong rookie season with an improved sophomore campaign as he jumped up to a tie for second on the Flames in goals with 24 while playing his usual gritty style. He has quickly emerged as a core player and is someone that they will likely be looking to lock up to a long-term deal before too long.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
F Sam Bennett ($1.95MM, RFA)
F Garnet Hathaway ($850K, UFA)
D Brett Kulak ($900K, RFA)
F Curtis Lazar ($950K, RFA)
D Dalton Prout ($800K, UFA)
G David Rittich ($800K, RFA)
G Mike Smith ($4.25MM, UFA*)
* – Arizona is retaining an additional 25% of Smith’s contract.
For the most part, this group is primarily comprised of Calgary’s depth players. Bennett, the fourth-overall pick in 2014, has had several opportunities to step up and grab a top-six role but he has yet to do so thus far. His goal production and average ice time have dipped each of the last two years which is not the type of progression they want to see. With a new head coach behind the bench in Bill Peters, Bennett will get another fresh start to try to prove he’s part of the core long-term. If he struggles though, he will quickly become a trade candidate (and if things go really poorly, a non-tender candidate as well). Lazar is another first-rounder that has yet to live up to his draft billing. He’s another player that’s likely in a make-or-break year. He shouldn’t get much more than his current contract on his next deal though. Hathaway avoided arbitration last month with his contract and will once again be on the fourth line.
Kulak cleared waivers last month in advance of his arbitration hearing but he still projects to play a regular role on Calgary’s back end as their number six. If that holds up throughout the season, he should position himself for a small raise. Prout is pegged to be a veteran reserve option. Whether it’s him or someone else in that role beyond next season, the price point is going to be pretty much the same. Rittich will battle with Jon Gillies for the backup goalie job and considering that he’s waiver-eligible while Gillies isn’t, that could give him a leg up on the spot. If he can hold his own playing roughly 25 games, he’ll set himself up for a decent raise, especially since he will once again have arbitration eligibility.
Smith’s case is the biggest one. He’s coming off of a solid first season between the pipes in Calgary but a late-season injury resulted in the team utilizing Gillies and Rittich down the stretch. He’ll turn 37 in March so while he might have a year or two left after this one, he’s not the long-term option for them between the pipes. While there are some quality potential UFA goalies elsewhere, chances are that at least a few of them will re-sign before next summer so the Flames will have to decide if he’s their guy for another season or two after this one or if they’ll be looking elsewhere. If they opt to keep him, he’s likely looking at a deal between what the Flames are covering and his current AAV ($5.67MM) as his age and injury history will hurt his market value somewhat.
Two Years Remaining
D T.J. Brodie ($4.65MM, UFA)
F Austin Czarnik ($1.25MM, UFA)
F Michael Frolik ($4.3MM, UFA)
D Travis Hamonic ($3.86MM, UFA)
F Mark Jankowski ($1.65MM, RFA)
D Michael Stone ($3.5MM, UFA)
Up front, Frolik is coming off of his worst full season since 2011-12. While he fit in as part of their top-six at the beginning of the contract, he’s more of a third liner at this stage which makes his deal a bit of an overpayment. Jankowski’s rookie campaign was a successful one as he tallied 17 goals and took hold of a regular spot in the lineup which helped him earn a nice raise on his bridge deal. If he hovers around the 20 goal mark for the upcoming two seasons, he could potentially double that on his next contract. Czarnik’s contract raised some eyebrows given his lack of NHL experience but he has been a prolific point producer in the minors and will now get a chance to show his stuff in the NHL. If he thrives, this could be one of the bargain deals of the summer. If he struggles though, it’s plausible that he could be on waivers before too long.
While Brodie’s output dipped for the second straight year, he’s still on a team-friendly deal as someone as their number two defender in terms of ice time. Players with his particular skill set are becoming more and more in demand which will only help his case. He’ll be hitting the open market at 30 and should command more than $6MM per season. Hamonic isn’t being asked to shoulder as much of the load as he did with the Islanders but that shouldn’t affect his market value too much. He’s still viewed as a high-quality defensive defender and could push for $5MM on his next deal. Stone hasn’t been playing at the level he was back in Arizona but he’s also being asked to play a lesser role. He’s primarily on the third pairing but serves as quality injury insurance.
Three Years Remaining
F Derek Ryan ($3.125MM, UFA)
Ryan secured his first multi-year NHL deal at the age of 31 earlier this summer as he joined the Flames at the opening of free agency, reuniting him with head coach Bill Peters in the process. The undersized center is coming off of a 38-point season while winning 56.5% of his faceoffs. If he can provide that type of production in Calgary, this has the potential to be a pretty strong value contract.
Four Or More Years Remaining
F Mikael Backlund ($5.35MM through 2023-24)
F Johnny Gaudreau ($6.75MM through 2021-22)
D Mark Giordano ($6.75MM through 2021-22)
F Elias Lindholm ($4.85MM through 2023-24)
F Sean Monahan ($6.375MM through 2022-23)
F James Neal ($5.75MM through 2022-23)
Given his lack of a track record at the time, Calgary took a bit of a risk giving Gaudreau this contract after just two NHL seasons. It’s safe to say their faith has been rewarded and then some as he has become one of the more dominant (and consistent) offensive wingers in the league. Monahan hasn’t kept pace offensively with Gaudreau but is a legitimate number one center on the Flames at a rate that isn’t much higher than what some second liners are receiving. Having two-thirds of their top line locked up at their current rates for the next four years is certainly a boon for the Flames.
Neal was Calgary’s prime free agent acquisition and they hope that he can boost an attack that was sixth-last in the league last season. While his point production has dwindled the last couple of years, he is still a reliable goal scorer, notching at least 22 goals in each of his ten NHL seasons. Lindholm, another offseason pickup, should battle with Neal to get a shot to play on that top line. He has had at least 39 points in each of the last four years but hasn’t passed 45 in that span either. With the contract he got, Flames management clearly believes he has another level to reach. Backlund is coming off his quietest season since 2014-15 but with some more firepower on the offense now, he should see a boost in his numbers which will make his deal more justifiable.
While Giordano’s days of being one of the higher point producers on the back end have come and gone, he’s still a quality number one blueliner at this stage of his career. However, he’ll be 35 when the season starts so it wouldn’t be too surprising if they start to slowly lower his minutes in the near future. There’s a good chance that the final year or two of the deal may be a bit rough but he’ll have provided enough surplus value on this contract by then to compensate for that.
Buyouts
F Lance Bouma ($767K in 2018-19)
F Troy Brouwer ($1.5MM through 2021-22)
D Ryan Murphy ($138K in 2018-19)
Retained Salary Transactions
None
Still To Sign
D Noah Hanifin
F Hunter Shinkaruk
Best Value: Brodie
Worst Value: Frolik
(Excluding entry-level contracts)
Looking Ahead
While the Brouwer buyout frees up the money to lock up Hanifin long-term if they so desire, they’re still facing a bit of a cap crunch in the near future. Tkachuk is going to get a sizable raise for 2019-20 even if it’s a bridge contract while they will have to re-sign or replace Smith. They don’t have any other expiring contracts of note to free up extra room to work with either. It’s not an impossible task to work with but fans in Calgary better get used to being up against the Upper Limit pretty quickly as they’re going to be near there for the next couple of years at least.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.