The NHL salary cap will increase to $88 million heading into the 2024-2025 season, giving teams some breathing room in the offseason. After an initial wave of free agent signings and trades, several teams have unresolved salary cap issues. Evaluating these teams may shed light on upcoming moves, including trades, demotions, or other contract relief.
According to PuckPedia, the Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers are still over the cap, while the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators are within $1 million of the cap but don't have enough room to consider in-season trades.
Evaluating these teams could provide potential trade pieces for a team still looking to improve, such as the Buffalo Sabres. Let's take a look at these teams with tight cap conditions and how they handle that difficult situation.
Washington Capitals
Projected cap hit: $102.17 million
Projected cap space: -$14.17 million
After a very aggressive offseason, the Washington Capitals find themselves in one of the most dire salary-limit situations in the league. The Capitals retained $3.9 million in salary after trading for Evgeny Kuznetsov last season, and they have a long-term injured reserve candidate in Nicklas Backstrom that could ease the salary limit somewhat.
Ethan Bear participated in the NHLPA's Player Assistance Program last season, and his salary could be reduced if he remains a participant next season, but there's still not enough cap space and a trade or two is planned.
Backstrom and Bear will have a combined $11,262,500 in cap relief and need to clear about $3 million before the season. Tom Wilson's $6.5 million cap hit is on Washington's books for the next seven seasons. That's a tough contract for a 30-year-old player to trade.
Other candidates include TJ O'Shea, Dylan Strome and Trevor van Riemsdyk. O'Shea has one more season with a $5.75 cap hit but has a 10-team no-trade clause. Trading Strome's $5 million cap hit for four more seasons would improve the cap situation but leave the Capitals short on centers. Van Riemsdyk has two seasons and $3 million per year remaining on his contract, which would be enough to put Washington in the black.
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Vegas Golden Knights
Projected cap hit: $91.64 million
Projected cap space: -$3.64 million
Long-term injury reserves have been a stalwart for Las Vegas in recent seasons, and they still have a contender in Robin Lehner and his $5 million salary cap hit, which would put the Golden Knights about $1.36 million under the NHL salary limit.
The Golden Knights are already struggling to find a forward and would likely look to acquire a defenseman if they want to free up more cap space, with the signing of Noah Hanifin last season being a roadblock for Nicholas Hague and Zach Whitecloud, who were once considered top prospects on the team.
Hague's salary cap hit next season will be $2,294,150 before he becomes a restricted free agent. He has four years left on his contract with Whitecloud, earning an average salary of $2.75 million per season. The Golden Knights are good at managing the salary cap, so they'll likely find a way to stay under the salary cap even if they don't move anyone.
Colorado Avalanche
Projected cap hit: $89.34 million
Projected cap space: -$1.34 million
The Colorado Avalanche's cap situation hinges on the status of Valeri Nichushkin, who is currently in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Nichushkin's annual salary is $6.125 million and would have nearly $5 million in cap space if he remains in the program at the start of the season.
If not, the Avalanche will have to trade Nichushkin or place Gabriel Landeskog on long-term injured reserve — of course, that's assuming Landeskog's status remains the same after slipping up with the team late last season.
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Philadelphia Flyers
Projected cap hit: $88.83 million
Projected cap space: -$830k
Philadelphia's buyout of Cam Atkinson gives the Flyers some cap room as they still have Kevin Hayes' salary from the trade, and they're also expected to gain some wiggle room by having Cal Petersen in the minor leagues and placing Ryan Ellis on LTIR for $6.25 million. Taking all that into account, the Flyers are still just under $1 million over the NHL salary cap.
Philadelphia also won't need to make a trade to clear cap space because Ryan Johansen's $4 million cap hit for next season is expected to be filled in the minor leagues, which would save them $1.15 million in cap space and get them under the cap, per the rules.
Of course, this doesn't reflect an improvement in their roster composition — the Flyers didn't make any free-agent signings or trades this offseason — and the only change to their roster composition was the addition of 2024 top draft pick Matvey Mishukov.
Edmonton Oilers
Projected cap hit: $88.35 million
Projected cap space: -$354k
The Buffalo Sabres have already taken advantage of the Edmonton Oilers' salary-cap situation by acquiring Ryan McLeod in exchange for prospect Matthew Savoie. The Oilers are just over the NHL salary cap but must sign restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg.
Leon Draisaitl's name has been mentioned because he is in the final season of his contract, but the obvious candidate to move is Evander Kane, who has significantly declined over the past few seasons and carries a salary cap hit of $5.125 million over the next two years.
Cody Ceci is in a contract year with a $3.25 million cap hit, which could also be a cost.
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Florida Panthers
Projected cap hit: $88.08 million
Projected cap space: -$83k
The Florida Panthers have a few options to become cap compliant, including reducing the number of players they hold at one time or sending Spencer Knight back to the AHL. They also have the option of trading Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad, whose contracts expire after next season.
Trading key players probably isn't an option for the team as it tries to rebuild, but it could be an option if the right deal can be found.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Projected cap hit: $87.02 million
Projected cap space: $180,000
Since the Toronto Maple Leafs season ended, there have been rumors of a Mitch Marner trade and possibly breaking up the core of the team. They have yet to show any signs of a big trade, but they do have two restricted free agents they could sign in Connor Dewar and Nicholas Robertson, but don't have the cap space to do so.
The influx of defensemen could lead the Leafs to consider trading other contracts, such as expiring Jake McCabe's $2 million cap hit, and while Robertson is reportedly looking for a fresh start as well, finding a replacement for an entry-level player wouldn't be cheap either.
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Nashville Predators
Projected cap hit: $87.4 million
Projected cap space: $596,000
The Nashville Predators are cap-constrained due to the dead cap hits of Ryan Johansen and Mattias Ekholm and the buyout of Matt Duchene. General manager Barry Trotz has been aggressive this offseason, acquiring Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skei.
The Predators' cap problems could be solved with a small move, such as trading for Cody Glass, who is unpopular with the team, which would free up $2.5 million in space and give them plenty of wiggle room. Luke Schon and Dante Fabbro are also options, but they are more important to the team's immediate success.
