Quote:
Originally Posted by stemit14
The flames currently have around $18 million in cap space:
Cap floor: $65 million
Flames total salary: $71 million
Cap limit: $88 million
There is some speculation that the cap could go up by $9 million next year. Putting it to $97 million.
If the flames don’t sign any new players, their total cap hit currently committed to next year is $53 million. That’s without accounting for re-signing of the upcoming summer UFAs or RFAs.
So let’s assume Zary and Coronato each sign for $7 million AAV this summer. Let’s assume Bahl signs for $4 million AAV. That puts the flames at $71 million.
The following are UFAs this summer: Kuzmenko, Mantha, Rooney, Duehr, Kirkland, Barrie, Hanley and Vladar. Of those players, the only ones that I think may be re-signed are Kirkland, Hanley and Duehr with Kirkland probably the best bet. Hanley has looked good recently but the team has so many good young defencemen that I hope they want to make room for them. Duehr still hasn’t taken a roster spot for himself. For now, let’s assume all 3 get resigned for say $850,000 AAV each. Pelletier is an RFA as well so let’s assume he also signs for the same amount. That puts the total salary at about $74 million in 2025-2026. The team would look a lot like it does right now:
Huberdeau-Kadri-Posposil
Sharangovich-Zary-Pelletier
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Lomberg-xxxx-Kirkland
Duehr
Weegar-Hanley
Andersson-Bahl
Bean-Pachal
Miromanov
Wolf
Cooley
Right now, that’s a real possibility for the roster next year. I don’t see many opportunities for more young players on that roster next year when it’s healthy though. I guess you could argue that injuries will happen. I could also realistically see Conroy choosing to not re-sign Duehr and Hanley. That would at least open up an opportunity for Klapka or Stromgren at forward. And it opens up an opportunity for one of the many solid young defencemen to take Hanley’s spot.
The following summer (2026), the UFAs will be Backlund, Lomberg, Andersson and Bean.
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I would be a bit catious about the cap increase for next year. Yes, it has been suggested that there could be a significant leap, but that was before the Canadian dollar dipped below .70. If the dollar stays there, or drops even more which is a possibility, then I don’t think these $9M cap increase projections will be accurate.
I also think this uncertainty will have an effect on contract extensions.