Quote:
Originally Posted by dino7c
too much cap was the issue in the first place and is still the issue
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Just for shots and giggles, I went to CapFriendly and added up the total (projected) cap hits for each team.
The NHL
as a whole is $10.3 million
over the cap.
Seventeen teams are over the cap by a total of $85.0 million, and using LTIR to remain compliant. Fifteen teams are below the cap by a total of $74.7 million. The total available cap space is not enough to cancel out the total LTIR overage.
If you're a replacement-level player, or close to it, with a cap hit that can't be completely buried in the minors, you're a potential cap dump. It's a bad time for guys like Valimaki. Good on him for landing in Arizona; not so good for players like him whose teams are looking to unload contracts and finding no takers. (Hello, Edmonton!)
Suppose Arizona did put Valimaki on waivers, and the Flames claimed him and immediately sent him to the AHL. They would be left with $425,000 of his salary counting against their cap, which would instantly use up (calculate, calculate) 82 percent of their available cap space. They would essentially blow all their flexibility until the trade deadline for no benefit on the roster.
If, instead, they kept Valimaki and demoted Mackey or DeSimone, they would actually be over the cap and have to dip into LTIR themselves. At that point, they would have zero cap to spend at the deadline.
