Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid the total chaos of the limit by walking the players’ tightrope with paint for trades that match their value (or make up for the future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t see struggles and changes in the front office.
PHR will look at each NHL team and take a complete look at their limit situation for the 2020-21 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the list than on those who may find themselves alternating between the AHL and the NHL. All limit numbers are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Detroit Red Wings
Current limit: $ 73,886,389 (below the upper limit of $ 81.5 million)
Basic level contracts
F Mathias Brome (one year, $ 925K)
D Moritz Seider (three years, $ 894K)
F Filip zadina (two years, $ 894K)
F Michael Rasmussen (one year, $ 894K)
D Dennis Cholowski (one year, $ 894K)
D Gustav Lindstrom (one year, $ 775K)
D Filip hronek (one year, $ 714K)
F Givani Smith (one year, $ 714K)
Potential Bonuses
Zadina: $ 850K
Rasmussen: $ 850K
Seider: $ 850K
Brome: $ 213K
Hronek: $ 158K
Smith: $ 158K
Lindstrom: $ 133K
Total: $ 3.21 MM
The only thing Detroit has left over is young talent in entry-level contracts. While not everyone has won full-time positions on the team, others are ready to take the step to try to win a bigger position. Currently, only Zadina and Hronek have won full-time roles. Zadina won a full-time position at the end of the season last year, with eight goals scored and his passage through the second row to start the season. Hronek has been the team’s best defender for some time and has already become an impressive blueliner.
Seider is an interesting case. The blueliner was originally on the training ground, but with the long delay in the season, the team lent him to SHL throughout the season, where he is flourishing. However, once the SHL season ends, Seider is due to arrive in Detroit and take a full-time role in a few months and can quickly become the team’s best defender.
Brome was impressed after signing a one-year contract, while Rasmussen, Smith, Cholowski and Lindstrom are currently in the taxi squad, hoping to make it into the team throughout the year.
One year remaining, non-basic level
F Henrik Zetterberg ($ 6.08MM, UFA)
F Marc Staal ($ 5.7MM, UFA)
F Darren Helm ($ 3.88MM, UFA)
F Tyler Bertuzzi ($ 3.5 million, RFA)
F Valtteri Filppula ($ 3MM, UFA)
D Patrik Nemeth ($ 3MM, UFA)
G Jonathan Bernier ($ 3MM, UFA)
F Luke Glendening ($ 1.8MM, UFA)
F Bobby Ryan ($ 1MM, UFA)
D Christian Djoos ($ 1MM, RFA)
F Adam Erne ($ 998K, RFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($ 925K, UFA)
D Alex Biega ($ 875K, UFA)
F Sam Gagner ($ 850K, UFA)
Detroit Red Wings took advantage of the fact that they are a little below the limit and that is unlikely to change next year, as several of these long-term old businesses are about to expire next season, including those in Zetterberg, Staal, Helm and Glendening, among others. This should give the team even more advantages in the future and can make them a free player if they think they are closer to competing.
Bertuzzi is also in line for a bigger deal. The FRG signed a one-year bridge contract, but if the first-line winger manages to accumulate large numbers again, he may be in line for a significant increase. Bertuzzi has scored 21 goals in each of the past two seasons and has become a team scorer. Bernier has been solid since signing last season. Despite being on a team with a weak defense, Bernier appeared in 46 games and still somehow maintained a defense percentage of 0.907, making him a solid goalkeeper in doubles.
Detroit and general manager Steve Yzerman they also invested in veteran players who can help the team develop and avoid ending up in last place again. Players like Ryan, Filppula, Merrill, Erne and Gagner will have to prove themselves if they want to return next year.
Two years remaining
F Frans Nielsen ($ 5.25MM, UFA)
D Danny DeKeyser ($ 5MM, UFA)
G Thomas Greiss ($ 3.6 million, UFA)
F Robby Fabbri ($ 2.95MM, UFA)
F Vladislav Namestnikov ($ 2 million, UFA)
D Troy Stecher ($ 1.7 million, UFA)
If you think the team will start accumulating a large capitalization space in two years, you are wrong. The team has several other contracts that will come out of the books in two years, including those for Nielsen and DeKeyser. Nielsen was once a top scorer in Detroit, but pocketed only four goals in 60 games last season and could gradually be eliminated from the roster as younger players prove they are ready. DeKeyser has a more significant role on the team, but injuries have damaged his career in recent years. He will have to really speed up his game to get any extension on the way.
The team has high expectations for Fabbri, which the team acquired mid-season last year at a cheap price. He then took his game to the next level, scoring 14 goals and 31 points in 52 games. The 24-year-old has now moved to the second row as he is concentrating on returning to the central position. If he manages to keep it, he will be able to keep the promise he had when it was written.
Yzerman invested in several one-year deals during the off-season, but he also did his best to bring in some important players in two-year deals. The team hopes that Greiss can pick up where he left off last year with the Islanders and be the perfect complement for Bernier on the network. Greiss posted a 0.913 percentage of saves in 31 games last season and should be a solid presence on the net for Detroit this season. Namestnikov also proved to be a solid mid-six player, who can play almost anywhere on the roster. Stecher also proved to be a player that the Red Wings can use to assist with second and third pairing options to reinforce their defense.
Three years remaining
F Dylan Larkin ($ 6.1 million, UFA)
There aren’t many long-term deals already on record, but the team still has three more years left from Larkin, the team captain, with a reasonable salary. The deal looked even better two years ago, when he scored 32 goals and 73 points. Unfortunately, those numbers dropped slightly last season, when he scored just 19 goals and 53 points in just five games less. Detroit has to hope that Larkin can get back to the 2018-19 numbers with an improved game in his wings and a team that is not mired in a horrendous season. Despite everything, Larkin is the face of the franchise and, at just 24 years old, should continue to improve more and more in the coming years.
Four or more years remaining
F Anthony Mantha ($ 5.7 million through 2024-25)
Injuries prevented Mantha from taking the next step in his game. The 26-year-old scored 12 goals and 12 assists in his first 29 games, before suffering an injury in the middle of his body when thrown on the ice by the Toronto team Jake Muzzin. He came back and played well too, maintaining his production of almost points per game with 14 points in 14 games before the game stopped. Mantha looks ready to take the next step in his development alongside Larkin and Bertuzzi. He scored 24 goals in 2017-18 and 25 goals in 2018-19 and would have exceeded those numbers had he not been injured. The new four-year contract may also seem like a bargain if he continues to improve his game.
Acquisitions
F Justin Abdelkader ($ 1.8 million in 2020-21; $ 2.31 million in 2021-22 and 2022-23; $ 1.06 million from 2023-24 to 2025-26)
F Stephen Weiss ($ 1.67 million in 2020-21)
Retained Salary Transactions
none
Yet to sign
none
Best value: Larkin
Worst value: Nielsen
Looking forward
Considering that, since the Detroit Red Wings were in cap purgatory, the Red Wings did a good job of slowly reducing their wages during their reconstruction and the team is slowly working to return to respectability, although there are still a few years left to be a team. of the playoff. Regardless, the team must continue to free up space for the limit and will have that money to spend with free agents or to re-sign with their own young players when their initial contracts start to expire.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.