Getting Floored

After the 2010-11 NHL season had concluded, the league established that the following season’s salary cap would feature a ceiling of $64.3 million and a minimum floor of $48.3 million.

In other words, thanks to these increases, NHL general managers have to ensure that their team’s accumulative salary falls between these two thresholds.

Unfortunately for teams that aren’t expected to contend, the salary cap floor has presented a two-fold problem:

1. Teams like the Florida Panthers entered the free agent market on July 1^st with an impetus to spend frivolously on mediocre talent, that they otherwise wouldn’t sign, strictly because they are obligated to meet the floor. Not only is this problematic for these teams that have to inflate their payroll without reasonable cause, it negatively affects the rest of the market by inflating the salaries of other comparable players.
2. Teams like the Ottawa Senators that currently flirt with the salary cap floor who have spent modestly and have shed significant salary in recent seasons are posed with a challenge. If you look at Ottawa’s roster, a number of potential trade candidates – Filip Kuba, Sergei Gonchar – could prove difficult to move. Not because either of these players are incapable of having bounce back seasons or improving their inherent trade value, but because Ottawa has to stay above the cap floor.

Using the Cap Geek Calculator, I projected Ottawa’s current roster to look somewhat like this. Please note that for Erik Condra and Bobby Butler, I used their respective salaries from last season.

FORWARDS

Milan Michalek ($4.333m) / Jason Spezza ($7.000m) / Bobby Butler ($0.900m)

Nikita Filatov ($2.195m) / Peter Regin ($1.000m) / Daniel Alfredsson ($4.875m)

Nick Foligno ($1.200m) / Jesse Winchester ($0.750m) / Chris Neil ($2.000m)

Colin Greening ($0.816m) / Zenon Konopka ($0.700m) / Erik Condra ($0.800m)

/ / Zack Smith ($0.700m)

DEFENSEMEN

Sergei Gonchar ($5.500m) / Erik Karlsson ($1.300m)

Chris Phillips ($3.083m) / Brian Lee ($0.875m)

Filip Kuba ($3.700m) / Matt Carkner ($0.700m)

/ David Rundblad ($1.500m)

GOALTENDERS

Craig Anderson ($3.187m) / Alex Auld ($1.000m)

BUYOUTS: Jonathan Cheechoo ($1.166m) / Daniel Alfredsson ($0.700m) / Ray Emery ($0.562m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $50,545,833; BONUSES: $2,375,000

CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $13,754,167

Time to put on your capologist hats everybody…

Ideally, the organization would be able to flip the previously mentioned Kuba for a draft pick since the team already has an in house alternative in Jared Cowen who is on the cusp of cracking the squad.

However, the problem therein is that if you were to subtract Kuba’s $3.7 million salary from the books and replace it with Cowen’s $1.265 million salary that would only bring the payroll to $48.11 million. It becomes pretty clear that if Ottawa’s going to make any kind of deal, they’re going to have to take some salary back.

If only Konopka and Ottawa’s other pugilists could fight this minor nuisance…