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Salary Cap Deep Dive: Anaheim Ducks

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid 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 often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Pacific Division, first up is the Ducks.

Anaheim Ducks

Current Cap Hit: $68,314.167 (below the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Leo Carlsson (two years, $950K)
G Lukas Dostal (one year, $812.5K)
F Cutter Gauthier (two years, $950K)
D Tristan Luneau (three years, $865K)
F Mason McTavish (one year, $894K)
D Pavel Mintyukov (two years, $918K)
D Olen Zellweger (two years, $844K)

Potential Bonuses:
Carlsson: $3.225MM
Gauthier: $950K
Luneau: $80K
McTavish: $2.5MM
Mintyukov: $800K
Total: $7.555MM (exceeds the 7.5% cap by $955K; that amount counts as a direct charge against the salary cap)

Anaheim took things slow with Carlsson last season, limiting him to just 55 games.  However, he played big minutes in those appearances and is seeing similar ice time early on this year.  That gives him a good chance to meet $1MM of his ‘A’ bonuses while the rest are unlikely.  We’ve seen the price tag for top young centers approach the $8MM mark post-entry-level and at this point, there’s little reason to think Carlsson shouldn’t be in that range as well.  Gauthier is in his first full NHL season after turning pro late last year.  Anaheim has high hopes for him as well although he’s obviously less proven at this point, making a second contract much harder to forecast.  His bonuses are also of the ‘A’ variety and could be achievable depending on the role he carves out for himself.

McTavish is the other young middleman that GM Pat Verbeek will be looking to sign in the relatively near future.  His first two full NHL seasons saw him just surpass the 40-point mark but being the third-overall selection, it’s fair to say that he’s still envisioned as being part of their long-term core.  His numbers at this point come in a bit below Matthew Beniers (who signed for seven years and $50MM on an extension that begins next season).  That would peg a long-term price tag at or just below $7MM (closer to $7.5MM on an eight-year agreement).  Alternatively, if they go with a bridge contract, that type of deal would be closer to $4MM on a two-year pact, $4.5MM or so on a three-year agreement.  He has $850K of ‘A’ bonuses in his deal and reasonably could max out on those with a strong showing this season.

On the back end, Mintyukov is someone they have high hopes for as another high draft pick.  He had a solid rookie campaign and is logging heavy minutes early on this year.  The market for some top blueliners coming off their entry-level deals who aren’t elite offensively has pushed past $8MM recently.  It’s not unfathomable that Mintyukov gets to that level over the next two seasons.  He has a good chance of reaching his ‘A’ bonuses based on his early-season usage.

Luneau missed almost all of last season which doesn’t help from a development perspective but he didn’t burn the first year of his deal either.  For this year, the priority will be simply getting regular game reps which makes projecting his next deal all but impossible at this point.  His bonuses are games-played based so staying healthy will allow him to reach at least most of those.  As for Zellweger, he was dominant at the AHL level last year and held his own in limited minutes.  A bridge agreement is likely for him and with what’s likely to be decent offensive numbers, it should push past at least $2MM.

Dostal has been thrown to the wolves at times but has put up more than respectable numbers over his first couple of NHL seasons.  Is he their starter of the future though?  That’s not a given so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him land a bridge deal.  Given the contracts handed out recently to Yaroslav Askarov ($2MM AAV) and Jesper Wallstedt ($2.2MM AAV), Dostal’s contract should come in at a higher rate than that.

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

D Brian Dumoulin ($3.15MM, UFA)
F Robby Fabbri ($4MM, UFA)
F Brett Leason ($1.05MM, RFA)
F Isac Lundestrom ($1.5MM, RFA)
F Brock McGinn ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Urho Vaakanainen ($1.1MM, RFA)
G James Reimer ($1MM, UFA)
F Frank Vatrano ($3.65MM, UFA)

Fabbri was picked up from Detroit in a cap-clearing move over the summer which wasn’t necessarily the worst outcome for him as he’ll play a bigger role with the Ducks than he otherwise would have.  Even so, given his long injury history, his next deal should check in closer to the $2.75MM range even though he consistently averages over half a point per game when he’s in the lineup.  Vatrano found another gear offensively last season with 37 goals, positioning himself nicely for the type of long-term deal that has eluded him thus far in his career.  He’ll be in his age-31 year next season so a max-term pact is off the table but five or six years could be doable.  If he can produce at a similar rate this year, that contract should push well past the $6MM mark.

McGinn is a serviceable fourth liner whose contract pays him more than that.  That’s likely to be corrected next summer when his deal should come in around half of this amount.  Lundestrom might be at the end of his rope with Anaheim if things don’t go well this year.  He took a pay cut to avoid being non-tendered this summer and until he can establish himself as a consistent top-nine center, he’ll be hard-pressed to land a sizable increase.  Leason, meanwhile, was non-tendered this summer to avoid arbitration eligibility but returned with a $250K raise in salary.  Another double-digit goal performance this season would help his value and push it closer to the $1.5MM range but he remains a non-tender risk nonetheless.

Dumoulin was also brought in with Seattle needing to clear salary.  His first year away from Pittsburgh wasn’t the greatest although he’ll at least benefit from likely a slightly bigger role in Anaheim.  Even so, his market wasn’t strong last time out and probably isn’t going to be much better barring an improved performance this year.  He could still land something around this price tag but a big raise is unlikely.  Vaakanainen has been more of a depth defender at this point of his career and has already been scratched this season.  He was non-tendered last summer to avoid arbitration rights and probably is heading for a similar outcome this time around, even if he’s worth something around this price point on the open market.

Reimer was picked up off waivers as injury insurance, sparing him from the third-string role he was heading for in Buffalo (at least for the time being).  At 36, he’s going to be going year-to-year moving forward, likely in the lower-end backup or third-string role so this price point is where his next deal should land as well.

Signed Through 2025-26

D Cam Fowler ($6.5MM, UFA)
D Radko Gudas ($4MM, UFA)
F Ross Johnston ($1.1MM, UFA)
D Jackson LaCombe ($925K, RFA)
F Trevor Zegras ($5.75MM, RFA)

Zegras and the Ducks couldn’t work out a long-term deal, settling on this bridge agreement last year.  The first season didn’t go well, to put it lightly as he battled injuries and ineffectiveness.  At this point, it’s hard to project a significant increase for his next contract unless he’s able to get back to his previous 60-point form.  Johnston is a fourth-line enforcer and with a lot of teams not carrying those, that limits his long-term value.  Still, as long as there are at least some teams open to deploying one, another contract around this price should be doable.

Fowler’s value depends on the eye of the beholder.  He’s certainly not a true number one defenseman but he has held that role for Anaheim for several years now and has done relatively well with it.  Given the minutes he covers, his price tag is solid value relative to others in that situation.  But if he was deployed in a more optimal spot (either second or third on the depth chart which is where he’d land on a lot of other teams), the contract moves somewhere between market value and a slight overpayment.  Fowler will be 34 when his next deal starts and if he’s elsewhere in a lesser role at that time, it’s hard to see a raise coming his way.  Instead, another multi-year deal around this price tag (in a higher cap environment) might be where he lands.

The fact that Gudas landed four years at this price point after primarily playing on the third pairing raised some eyebrows but it has worked so far for Anaheim.  The new captain has moved into the top four and handled it relatively well.  Having said that, he’ll be 36 when this deal expires so again, a raise isn’t overly likely.  A two-year deal around this price point could be, however.  LaCombe signed what’s frankly a below-market bridge contract for someone who averaged over 19 minutes a game the year before.  However, he at least secured a one-way salary (which is notable given that he’s still waiver-exempt) while he’ll have arbitration rights next time out.  If he can shoulder a similar workload for the next two years, tripling this price tag could be doable.

Signed Through 2026-27

G John Gibson ($6.4MM, UFA)
F Alex Killorn ($6.25MM, UFA)
F Ryan Strome ($5MM, UFA)

Killorn was a surprise signing in free agency last summer, both in terms of Anaheim getting him and the contract he received.  The idea was to add a quality veteran who could play in the top six and work with the young forward group.  But things didn’t go quite as planned in year one and, already 35, it’s hard to forecast a sharp improvement.  And considering he’ll be entering his age-38 year in 2027-28, this might be his last contract.  Strome hasn’t been able to match the output he had with the Rangers but now has five straight seasons of more than 40 points under his belt.  Given the annual high demand for centers, he could land a similar contract if he was on the open market now so thus far, the Ducks are getting a fair return on his agreement.

It wasn’t that long ago that Gibson was viewed as one of the top goalies in the league with his contract looking like a bargain relative to other top-paid starters.  But that has flipped in recent years.  His save percentage in the past five seasons combined is just .900, a mark that’s below league average.  Having someone below average in that mark making top-ten money isn’t ideal.  It’s possible that a change of scenery could allow him to bounce back to a point but it’s unlikely he’d rebound to a level of play that would make this a team-friendly pact.

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Utah HC Activates And Assigns Curtis Douglas To AHL

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While Utah HC got some rough news on the injury front today, they also cleared one of their depth players to return.  The Hockey News’ Tim Hiebert relays (Twitter link) that the team has activated Curtis Douglas from the injured, non-roster list and assigned him to AHL Tucson.

The 24-year-old spent last season exclusively with the Roadrunners, notching career bests in assists (16), points (21), and penalty minutes (148), finishing tied for fourth league-wide in the latter category.  The 6’7 center has four professional seasons under his belt, also spending time with Ottawa and Toronto’s farm teams.  The organization acquired him late in 2022 in exchange for defenseman Conor Timmins.

Douglas inked a two-year, two-way deal with Utah in early July after his entry-level contract came to an end.  The deal carries a $150K minor league salary this season before jumping to $325K for the 2025-26 campaign.  He has yet to receive an NHL recall but if Utah decides they need some extra grit on the fourth line, that could change in the coming months.

Five Key Stories: 10/7/24 – 10/13/24

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The regular season is now underway with plenty of news off the ice as expected.  We recap the most notable in our key stories.

Four For Ullmark: After originally planning to give Linus Ullmark some time to settle in before focusing on a contract extension, the Senators changed course, handing the netminder a four-year, $33MM deal that will begin next season.  Perhaps not coincidentally, the $8.25MM AAV matches the one his former teammate Jeremy Swayman received from Boston not long before that.  Ullmark, the 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner, was acquired by Ottawa just before the draft in the hopes that landing him would help solve their long-standing struggles between the pipes.  With this agreement in place, the net will be his for the foreseeable future.

Five For Daccord: Another netminder put pen to paper on a new deal this week as the Kraken inked Joey Daccord to a five-year, $25MM extension.  The 28-year-old had his first full-time NHL season last year but it was a strong one.  He quickly passed Philipp Grubauer on the depth chart and wound up getting into 50 games, posting a 2.46 GAA with a .916 SV%, numbers that were well above the league average.  Even so, it’s a bit surprising to see this get done so quickly given his limited track record (just 69 career NHL appearances heading into the season) which suggests that Seattle felt Daccord was going to have another strong showing this year, one that would have only upped his asking price later on.

Shesterkin Says No: While Ullmark and Daccord signed new deals, another netminder turned one down.  Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin reportedly declined an eight-year, $88MM extension, one that would have made him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history.  However, the cap percentage at that price point would be lower than Price’s back when he signed in 2017 (13.21%) so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Shesterkin’s camp looking to best that while also looking to make him the highest-paid Ranger.  The 28-year-old has been one of the top goalies since coming to the NHL in 2019-20, putting up a 2.43 GAA and a .921 SV% in his first 215 games, bettering those in postseason action.  Accordingly, even if the two sides can’t agree on a record-breaking deal, there’s a good chance other teams will be willing to give one to him in free agency.

Lavoie’s Waiver Wire Adventures: It’s extremely rare for a player to be involved in a waiver-related transaction for six days in a row but that’s what happened with Raphael Lavoie.  Edmonton waived him and he was claimed by Vegas the next day.  However, he went back on the wire the following day with the Oilers taking him back.  However, since another team placed a claim as well, he had to go back on waivers the next day, where Vegas once again put in a claim.  Since the team that put in a claim when Edmonton got him back didn’t claim Lavoie this time around, the Golden Knights were able to send Lavoie to the minors after six days of waiver limbo.

Verhaeghe Sticks Around: It had been expected for a while that the Panthers would work out a long-term agreement with Carter Verhaeghe.  It took until just after their first game to make it official but Florida signed the winger to an eight-year, $56MM extension.  The 29-year-old has surpassed the 70-point mark in each of the last two seasons while finishing one point off the team lead in scoring during their run to the Stanley Cup last spring.  While there is some risk in signing him through his age-38 season, a $7MM cap charge for a 70-point player is good value in this environment, especially with the salary cap projected to rise.  As long as he remains around that level of production, Florida should get some value from this deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Greig, Blake, Dunn, Kolosov

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Senators center Ridly Greig is dealing with an upper-body injury, relays Sportsnet’s Alex Adams (Twitter link).  The 22-year-old locked down a regular spot in Ottawa’s lineup for most of last season, notching 13 goals and 13 assists in 72 games while logging nearly 15 minutes a night.  Greig has been on the wing to start the year and missed a couple of shifts in Saturday’s game against Montreal, presumably due to the injury.  He might not be out for long, however, as head coach Travis Green noted that Greig could still suit up on Monday against Los Angeles.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Hurricanes quietly papered winger Jackson Blake down to AHL Chicago on Saturday. However, his time there was short-lived as he has already been recalled, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The move simply allowed them to bank a few thousand dollars in cap space with Carolina’s game against Tampa Bay postponed yesterday.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Hurricanes do this with some regularity with Blake, their lone waiver-exempt player, to try to open up a bit more spending flexibility.
  • Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, relays team broadcaster Piper Shaw (Twitter link). He played into the final minute of Saturday’s game but the issue was enough to keep him out of tonight’s contest against Dallas.  The 27-year-old has two points in his first two games this season after putting up 46 in 59 appearances in 2023-24.
  • Late last month, Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov ended his stalemate with the team, reporting to training camp after an agreement was reached that could allow for a potential return later on. That potential return might come sooner than later, however, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier this week in his 32 Thoughts column that Philadelphia only has until the end of the month to convince him about their plans for him.  Kolosov made it known over the summer that he wants to play in the KHL this season if he was going to be in the minors.  While he’s with the Phantoms for now, he might not be there for too much longer based on Friedman’s report.

PHR Mailbag: Impact Youngsters, Record-Breaking Contract, Fowler, Goalies, Struggling Contender, Minors

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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include a discussion about a Cam Fowler trade scenario, plenty of goalie talk, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in last weekend’s mailbag.

wreckage: Do you expect Michkov or Bedard to be more impactful going forward? Bedard may have more skill, slightly. Michkov likely has a deeper team behind him at the moment. For the next three years… who has more impact in the NHL?

I’ll go with Connor Bedard for this one.  Yes, Chicago has a weaker team on paper right now but Philadelphia is still rebuilding as well, despite them nearly making the playoffs last season.  Both teams are probably on the outside looking in for at least the first two of those three years.  The good news is that Matvei Michkov should get a lot of runway to play big minutes quickly like Bedard did last season but there’s only so much impact he can have on a non-playoff team.

Generally speaking, I’m going to lean toward a high-end center having more of an impact than a high-end winger on a year-to-year basis.  Bedard will be a year further ahead in his development, entering what should be a very pricey second contract at a time when Chicago should be starting to take some steps forward in the Central.  He’s going to be a big part of that.  Not to say Michkov shouldn’t be an impactful piece by any stretch but I expect most players won’t be quite as impactful as Bedard should be in a few years.

riverrat55: Who is the 1st player with the upcoming increase in the Salary Cap to ask for $20MM?

Before tackling this, we need to figure out our target cap percentage that will cost $20MM.  Teams, players and agents use this percentage as a direct comparable in negotiations.  (For anyone wondering, 20% is the maximum, a rate we haven’t seen reached in quite some time.  I remember some when the first cap came out but that’s about it.)  Auston Matthews’ contract is 15.06% of the cap while Leon Draisaitl’s recent one checks in at 15.91%.  Connor McDavid’s current one is 15.72% and I could see it eclipsing the 16% mark (which, on a $92MM-plus cap, puts the AAV in the $15MM range).  For the sake of this hypothetical, let’s put a target cap percentage at 16.5%.

Let’s do some quick math here.  $20MM divided by 16.5% = $121.212MM.  Why does this matter?  We need to project when the Upper Limit of the salary cap might get to this amount to see who will need a contract at this time.

This year, the cap is $88MM with a 5% capped increase next season and the year after that.  That would make the ceiling $92.4MM in 2025-26 and $97.02MM in 2026-27 before the CBA expires.  (The league did make this year’s cap a bit higher than the 5% increase so this isn’t a perfect scenario but close.)  It wouldn’t shock me to see a bit more of a jump after that, assuming revenues stay on their current trajectory.  Let’s say it’s a 10% boost post-CBA.  That makes the cap $106.72MM in 2027-28.  Let’s forecast 7% increases on average after that.  In 2028-29, it would be $114.19MM and in 2029-30, it’d be $122.19MM.  So, the 2029-30 season is the earliest we could see that price point.

Assuming that most core players will continue to sign max-term deals, that probably takes McDavid off the table.  Cale Makar is up in 2027 so he’s off the table.  Matthews’ deal expires in 2028 so he’s not going to get there either.  The rest of the established elite will either be signed through that time or on the backswing of their careers in 2030.

With that in mind, my guess would be Bedard if I’m picking a current player.  He’d have a shot at that in 2034 if he signs a max-term contract coming off his entry-level deal.  If he goes shorter-term, he could get there sooner.  We’re going to see a bigger jump in the cap coming sooner than later but even with that, it’s probably going to take a while to see someone reach $20MM unless there’s a material jump in the Upper Limit in the new CBA or some sort of other drastic change.

jminn: The Ducks want to trade Fowler. Kings could have a need, even though Cam is a lefty. Is there any chance Fowler moves up the freeway?

I’m going to be a little picky on the phrasing as it’s not necessarily that they’re looking to trade Fowler but rather that they’re willing to work with him on finding a new home.  If he winds up staying there for most or all of the season, I think that’s an outcome they’re okay with.

But semantics aside, I don’t think this is a good fit for Los Angeles and not because of the handedness.  Drew Doughty is expected to be back this season so while the Kings have around $10MM in cap room right now per PuckPedia, that money isn’t really spendable as they’ll need to get back to compliance before they can activate him.  That’s easy to do with a replacement from the minors but Fowler has a $6.5MM cap hit.  That means that barring further long-term injuries, the Kings would need to clear around $6.5MM off the books when the time comes to activate Doughty.  That’s going to be extremely difficult to do midseason.

Would Fowler help the Kings?  He certainly would.  But this isn’t the right move for them to make at this time.  Los Angeles needs to exhaust their internal options and see if Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence can take on bigger workloads.  Then, if that doesn’t go well, they can re-assess but even then, it’d have to be for a much cheaper option than Fowler.

Frozenaquatic: There’s an interesting conversation happening right now about goalie salaries. Obviously, the argument for lower salaries is that aside from Hellebuyck, even top goalies play about 60 – 65 games (even though starting pitchers command high salaries despite only playing 30 out of 162 games). And how much does a goalie matter for a championship (or was Darcy Kuemper the Trent Dilfer of the NHL–just an anomaly in a rare system that usually favors Tom Bradys/Vasilevskys)?

Another argument is that they are only as good as the system–how much will Ullmark regress behind a much worse Sens system and would Swayman regress that same amount? They’re also mercurial–Shesterkin could sign an eight-year, $104MM contract and begin an eight-year slump.

The argument for higher salaries is that they may affect those games more than the other players. Great goalies sometimes open a championship window. They can represent a winning culture that other players want to play for.

Where do you fall on the goalie salary spectrum?

Second question is: Do you know if players take playing with goalies into consideration when they sign UFA contracts with new teams?

Third question: if you were in a legacy fantasy league, would you take Askarov, Cossa, or Wallstedt?

1) In general, I’d say goalies have felt the squeeze in recent years.  With a lot of teams shifting closer to a platoon, there has certainly been a concerted effort to try to spend less at that position.  It also should be noted that the number of true higher-end starters has gone down which is part of the reason teams are looking for goalies to be closer to splitting the duties.

What has been interesting to me lately is that teams with a legitimate number one have largely managed to get that player locked up on what looks like a team-friendly agreement.  Part of me wonders if the fact a lot of teams are looking to cut costs between the pipes actually has deflated the marketability for some of those players.  While supply is low, it’s getting offset by perceived lower demand.

That’s what made the Jeremy Swayman saga particularly interesting as here’s a player trying to reach that upper tier (some would say he’s there already while others might want to see him play more first) that seemingly held out for top dollar.  It seems like Igor Shesterkin is hoping to do the same as well although, again, if he got to the open market, how many teams would realistically go after him?  How many would have the cap space and of those, how many would pay up that much for a goalie?  I’m intrigued to see how that one’s going to play out.

2) I can’t say this for certain either way but it would surprise me if more than a handful of skaters would put too much weight on who the goalie is when signing in free agency.  I’d say that’s too position-specific.  Free agents probably assess rosters on a more macro level – does the player want to go to a contender?  Does he want to go to a team that is thinner at a specific position in the hopes of securing a bigger role (and ideally a bigger contract)?  A UFA goalie would pay attention to who the incumbent player is for obvious reasons but I doubt a lot of skaters put a high emphasis on who the goalies are specifically when they’re pondering teams.

3) Long-term, it’s hard to pick against Yaroslav Askarov.  There’s a reason why he was considered by some as the best goalie outside North America a couple of years ago.  He’s now on a team that could be positioning itself to contend in a few years.  If it’s a long-term play you’d be going for, he’s it.  If you need someone who might get you more points in the short term, it’s Jesper Wallstedt.  Like Askarov, he’ll see some NHL action this season but he’s on a team that I expect will be more competitive.  Next season, he should be a full-timer on a team that has some cap space to make some noise next summer.

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Injury Updates: Barkov, Woll, Peterka, Rust

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7:00 PM : After originally being labeled a game-time decision, Penguins winger Bryan Rust has made his return to the lineup. It’s his season debut, returning him to his role on Sidney Crosby’s wing, where he recorded 28 goals and 56 points in 62 games last season.

2:00 PM : The lower-body injury to Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov won’t keep him out for long.  Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News (Twitter link) that the center is expected to miss two to three weeks and is expected to be ready to play by the time Florida heads overseas in early November for games in Barkov’s native Finland, if not before then.  That means he shouldn’t miss any more time relative to his original week-to-week designation.  The 29-year-old has been a high-end two-way top center for several seasons now and has put up at least 78 points in each of the last three seasons.  Harrington also noted that Florida winger Matthew Tkachuk won’t play tonight against Buffalo although his absence isn’t injury-related but rather due to illness.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll is progressing from his lower-body injury but still has not returned to the ice, relays Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). The netminder was expected to get the start on Wednesday’s opener but was scratched earlier in the day, landing on IR retroactively to his last preseason appearance to make a roster spot for Dennis Hildeby.  Woll is entering his second full NHL season and posted a 2.97 GAA with a .904 SV% in 25 games last season and added a 0.86 GAA with a .963 SV% in three playoff appearances.
  • While the Sabres were hoping that winger J-J Peterka would be able to suit up tonight, the team announced that won’t be the case as he’ll miss his second straight game due to a concussion. However, head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that he’s hopeful Peterka will be able to suit up on Wednesday.
  • Penguins winger Bryan Rust is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s game against Toronto, notes Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now. The veteran has been listed as day-to-day for the last couple of weeks with a lower-body injury, landing him on IR to start the season but he was a full participant in Pittsburgh’s morning skate.  Rust had 28 goals and 28 assists in 62 games for the Penguins last season.  The team has an open roster spot so they won’t have to send someone down if Rust is indeed cleared to play.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Washington Capitals

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid 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 often 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 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Metropolitan Division, next up is the Capitals.

Washington Capitals

Current Cap Hit: $98,665,965 (above the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Hendrix Lapierre (one year, $863K)

Potential Bonuses
Lapierre: $445K

Lapierre spent the bulk of last season with Washington with some short stints with AHL Hershey mixed in.  Most of that time was in a bottom-six role, one he’s likely to have this season as well which means his bonuses are unlikely to be met, aside from possibly any games-played ones.  A bridge agreement should be the outcome for Lapierre who, if he stays in the bottom six for most of this season, could possibly double his current price tag next summer.

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

D Alexander Alexeyev ($825K, RFA)
F Nicklas Backstrom ($9.2MM, UFA)
D Ethan Bear ($2.0625MM, UFA)
D Jakob Chychrun ($4.6MM, UFA)
F Nic Dowd ($1.3MM, UFA)
G Charlie Lindgren ($1.1MM, UFA)
F Andrew Mangiapane ($5.8MM, UFA)
D Dylan McIlrath ($775K, UFA)
F T.J. Oshie ($5.75MM, UFA)
F Taylor Raddysh ($1MM, UFA)
G Logan Thompson ($766.7K, UFA)
F Jakub Vrana ($775K, UFA)

Let’s get Backstrom and Oshie out of the way together as they’re in the same situation.  Backstrom remains on LTIR where he was for most of last season while it’s unlikely that Oshie will be able to suit up this season either.  GM Chris Patrick’s early-offseason spending was a strong indicator that the team doesn’t believe Oshie will be cleared to play.

Mangiapane was one of the additions through that early spending.  After scoring 35 goals in 2021-22 (yielding this contract), he has just 31 in the two years since then although he has reached at least 40 points each time.  At this point, a small pay cut could be coming but if he can even get back to 30 goals with his new team, Mangiapane could push past $6MM next summer.

Dowd has gone from being a regular fourth liner a few years ago to a regular third liner, pushing past 20 points in three straight years now.  A center who can kill penalties, he’s in line to potentially add another million per season or so to that number, albeit on a short-term deal as he’ll be 35 next summer.   Raddysh was non-tendered this summer, resulting in him looking for a short-term rebound deal.  Only a year removed from a 20-goal campaign, he could double this next summer if he can get back to the 15-goal mark or so.  Vrana had to earn a deal the hard way through a PTO but landed one earlier this week.  After bouncing around a bit in recent years, it’s hard to see him commanding much more than the minimum unless he has a big season offensively.

Chychrun was brought in via an early July trade to help bolster the back end.  He doesn’t produce enough to be a high-end threat offensively but he has reached the double-digit goal mark in three of the last five years and reached the 40-point plateau last season as well.  If he stays in that range while continuing to play heavy minutes, his next deal could surpass $7MM on a long-term agreement.

Bear was a midseason signing last year that hasn’t panned out yet.  After exiting the Player Assistance Program over the offseason, he wound up not making the team and cleared waivers earlier this month.  He’ll carry a pro-rated $912.5K cap charge while with AHL Hershey and if he’s there all season, he’ll be looking at something closer to the minimum next summer.  Alexeyev has had a limited role so far in his NHL action, primarily playing part-time on the third pairing.  His qualifying offer checks in just below $920K with arbitration rights next summer but Washington won’t be able to afford that roster spot costing much more than that.  McIlrath, meanwhile, has primarily been in the minors in recent years and accordingly, his next deal should come in at or near the minimum salary again.

Lindgren was a late bloomer but since joining Washington two years ago, he has established himself as at least a capable NHL netminder.  Last season, he wrestled away the number one job from Darcy Kuemper which will only help his cause in negotiations.  Still, with a limited track record (just 110 career NHL appearances heading into the season), an early extension isn’t likely – both sides probably want to wait and see what happens – but if he has a similar year to this one, he should earn at least $3MM on a multi-year agreement next summer.  If it’s another year as a true starter, the recent five-year, $25MM contract given to Joey Daccord could come up in talks.

Thompson also has somewhat of a limited track record in terms of experience but is also a few years younger with better career numbers after three strong seasons in Vegas.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be shocking if his camp is already eyeing something close to Daccord’s new deal if and when extension talks get underway.  The cheapest goalie in the NHL, Thompson’s next deal will certainly change that soon enough.

Signed Through 2025-26

D John Carlson ($8MM, UFA)
F Brandon Duhaime ($1.85MM, UFA)
D Martin Fehervary ($2.675MM, RFA)
F Connor McMichael ($2.1MM, RFA)
F Sonny Milano ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Alex Ovechkin ($9.5MM, UFA)
D Trevor van Riemsdyk ($3MM, UFA)

Ovechkin is one of the top scorers in NHL history and even with a very high AAV for most of his career, he has lived up to it.  That might be ending soon strictly from a bang-for-buck perspective.  The 39-year-old had the lowest full-season production of his career and players generally don’t have a resurgent year at that age.  That said, with all he has done for them and the chase for the all-time record, the Capitals won’t be too concerned if they’re not getting top value here.

McMichael received a bridge deal which was a pretty obvious outcome considering he spent most of 2022-23 in the minors.  But if he can stay in the top six regularly, he could double that next time out with arbitration eligibility and if it looks like he’s a core piece for the future by then, a long-term deal could push past $5MM.  Milano managed 15 goals in 49 games last season which isn’t bad production for that price tag but the book on him in recent years is that he can be effective only in a limited role.  That has hindered his market before and probably will next time out unless something changes over the next couple of years.  Duhaime is a crash-and-bang winger who only managed five goals last season, making this price tag seemingly a bit high for that role but perhaps a change of scenery will allow him to contribute a bit more offensively which would set him up to pass $2MM next time out.

While Carlson didn’t light up the scoresheet as much as he has in the past, he did reach the double-digit goal mark for the sixth time in the last seven years last season and logged a career high in ice time at nearly 26 minutes a night.  That type of playing time is unsustainable for a 34-year-old but he doesn’t need to play that much to justify this deal.  He remains an all-situations type of player which should give this contract a good chance to hold up value-wise over the final two seasons.  It’s not inconceivable that he lands a small raise next time out although the likelier outcome is more of a medium-term agreement that would allow the AAV to be a bit lower.

As for van Riemsdyk, he has found a home in Washington, going from being a player toward the end of the depth chart to spending a lot of time on the second pairing.  This price tag for someone in that role is good value.  He’ll be entering his age-35 year on his next contract so he might be hard-pressed to get much more than this in 2026.  Fehervary, meanwhile, is on his bridge deal and has similarly played a lot on the second pairing.  Given that he’s still 25, he could push past the $4MM mark if things go well, perhaps $5MM on a long-term pact.  His current deal is front-loaded, carrying just a $1.075MM qualifying offer two years from now.

Signed Through 2026-27

None

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Senators Looking To Add Defensive Depth

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This early in the season, most teams will be looking to hold off on making any moves of significance, wanting to see what they have over the first month or two.  Accordingly, a lot will be focusing on their depth situation if the opportunity presents itself to do something.

It appears that the Senators are a team that wants to add to their depth before too long.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that GM Steve Staios has been looking around the market for a depth blueliner.  While they gave some consideration to some of the players waived at the beginning of the week, they opted not to claim one, presumably feeling that they can swing a move to get one.

Ottawa’s top four on the back end is well-established.  Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub have been around for several years, Jake Sanderson is still in the early stages of his career but projects to be a fixture for years to come, and Nick Jensen was acquired from Washington in the Jakob Chychrun trade.  Barring injury, that part of the blueline is set.

Beyond that, however, things get a little murkier.  On opening night, veteran Travis Hamonic and Tyler Kleven – who has just 18 games of NHL experience – comprised the bottom pairing.  Jacob Bernard-Docker, who cleared waivers at this time last year, was the spare defender but notably did play in 72 games for the Sens last season after an early-season recall.  Kleven and Bernard-Docker both have some promise but are relatively unproven still while Hamonic has seen his effectiveness slide in recent years.  That section of the back end can be improved upon as a result.

However, one thing Staios will have to be mindful of is the salary cap.  The team currently has less than $900K in cap space per PuckPedia.  While that’s enough to afford to add a depth blueliner, it would effectively cap them out unless one of the other blueliners came off the roster.  Kleven is waiver-exempt while Bernard-Docker and Hamonic aren’t; Hamonic also has no-move protection which takes waivers off the table.  Can Ottawa find an upgrade that would allow them to send Kleven down or risk losing Bernard-Docker on the wire?  It appears that’s what they’re looking to find out.

Sharks Recall Jack Thompson, Place Macklin Celebrini On IR

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After a strong NHL debut, Sharks center Macklin Celebrini will have to wait a week for his second appearance.  The team announced today (Twitter link) that he has been placed on injured reserve; defenseman Jack Thompson was recalled from AHL San Jose to take his place on the roster.

Celebrini was the top pick in the draft back in June and after taking some time to think about his plans for this season, decided to forego the rest of his college eligibility and turn pro.  He didn’t see much preseason action playing just twice out of six games but that didn’t stop him from having a strong debut, one that saw him record two points.

Part of the reason he didn’t see much action in the exhibition season was that he was dealing with a nagging lower-body issue during training camp.  He’s now once again dealing with a lower-body injury, one that might be related to what he was going through in recent weeks.  With how early it is in the season, it makes sense to give Celebrini some rest now to try to eliminate the problem completely over having him play at less than full health.

As for Thompson, the 22-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level contract and is in his first full year with the Sharks after he was acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.  He got into three NHL appearances between the two squads last season and added 41 points in 62 AHL appearances.

While it might seem strange that a defenseman was brought up to replace a forward, San Jose had only been carrying six healthy blueliners on their active roster with Shakir Mukhamadullin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both injured.  Thompson will now give them a bit of insurance on the back end while the Sharks still have 14 available forwards on their roster.

East Notes: Liljegren, Shesterkin, Volokhin, Brandsegg-Nygard

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While there has been some trade speculation surrounding Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that there is no imminent move on the horizon.  Toronto is currently carrying eight blueliners while also having offseason additions Jani Hakanpaa and Dakota Mermis on LTIR so their depth is in decent shape, something Dreger notes Toronto likes.  However, while having strong depth is one thing, having a healthy scratch making $3MM through next season isn’t ideal.  Still just 25, Liljegren has nearly 200 career NHL regular season games under his belt and is coming off a season that saw him collect 23 points in 55 games while logging nearly 20 minutes a night.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some trade interest in him in the coming weeks, especially if a team gets hit with some injuries on the back end.  If not, they may still need to make a move in a few weeks as some of their injured players potentially return.

More from the Atlantic:

  • On the heels of Igor Shesterkin declining an eight-year, $88MM extension offer from the Rangers, Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests that the goaltender is asking for $12MM per season. Recognizing the team might not go that high, the 28-year-old wants to be the highest-paid player on the team which means he might decline anything below the $11.643MM AAV that Artemi Panarin has on his deal.  Shesterkin has a career 2.42 GAA and a .921 SV% in 214 games at the NHL level and will soon be the highest-paid goalie in league history with the offer he declined already coming in higher than Carey Price’s $10.5MM per season.
  • Canadiens goaltending prospect Yevgeni Volokhin has been loaned to HK Sochi, per an announcement from the KHL club. SKA St. Petersburg acquired his rights earlier this week but will let the 19-year-old get his feet wet at the top Russian level elsewhere for the time being.  Montreal drafted Volokhin in the fifth round in 2023, going 144th overall.  He was one of the top netminders at their junior level last season, posting a 1.57 GAA with a .938 SV% in 31 games with Mamonty Yugry and has similar numbers (1.95 and .931 respectively) in eight appearances at the MHL level this year.
  • The Red Wings wanted to assign prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard to AHL Grand Rapids but the first rounder and his camp insisted on him being assigned back to Sweden, relays Norren’s Robin Lindgren (Twitter link). The 19-year-old spent last season with Mora in the second-tier Allsvenskan level where he had 18 points in 41 games but his rights are now held by SHL Skelleftea.  It’s believed that Brandsegg-Nygard feels that playing at the top level in Sweden will be better for his development than suiting up for the Griffins in the minors.

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