Another way to put it. On a 23-man roster with a 70-million dollar cap you get to pay each of your players 3-million. That is it. That means if you pay a player 4 million you need to pay someone else 2-million. If you pay someone 5-million then someone else gets 1-million. If you pay a player 7-million then you need to limit two other players to a million. That is the simple math.
Russell's spot represents an opportunity to generate cap space with an ELC or budget contract. It is also why many of us had an issue with the Bouma contract.
Yet another way to put it. If you assume that Gaudreau, Monahan, Hudler, Bennett, Backlund, Frolik, Hamilton, Brodie, Giordano, and Ramo are your top 9 forwards, top 3 D, and starting goalie then the break down of the Flames cap is:
- Top half: 33-million
- Bottom half: 36-million
Unless you think Russell is ahead of Giordano, Brodie, or Hamilton then he is definitely in the bottom half. Meanwhile new contracts are coming to Giordano, Monahan, and Gaudreau on the top half.