Categories: PenguinPoop

Penguins Update: Capping Off a Turbulent Week

There’s an old adage…idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Well, the same goes for idle minds. With nothing in particular to occupy mine, I decided to take a look at where our Penguins stand in available cap space relative to the rest of the league.

It was eye-opening. With roughly $2.6 million of available cap space as of Friday evening, we rank 23rd. We’re in good shape compared to teams like Vegas, Chicago, Dallas and Tampa Bay who sit above the $81.5 cap limit. But we trail most of the teams in the league, including our Metro Division rivals. Some by a wide margin. For example, the nettlesome Islanders have over $17 million in available cap space; the emerging Rangers over $13 million.

The numbers did give me a greater appreciation for the challenges facing Pens general manager Ron Hextall. Simply put, he has very little wiggle room. A legacy of Jim Rutherford taking on salary and handing out rather lavish contracts to emerging but still largely unproven talents like John Marino and Marcus Pettersson. And while I don’t agree with Hextall’s choice of free agents…he should’ve focused his available dollars on adding a functional physical presence…period…I get that we simply aren’t in a position to compete with other clubs for high-profile talent. At least not without swinging a cap-clearing trade or two.

Although there’s always hope that cap-space rich and talent-poor clubs like Detroit and/or Buffalo will help us in that endeavor, I’m not holding my breath.

Without further ado, here’s how we stack up against our NHL brethren according to CapFriendly.

Rank

Team

Current Cap Hit

Current Cap Space

Contracts

Avg. Contract Value

1

Detroit

$50,972,223

$30,527,777

18

$2,831,790

2

Ottawa

$51,748,333

$29,751,667

20

$2,587,417

3

Buffalo

$52,897,763

$28,602,237

20

$2,644,888

4

New Jersey

$60,257,235

$21,242,765

18

$3,347,624

5

Nashville

$61,491,143

$20,008,857

19

$3,236,376

6

Minnesota

$61,785,255

$19,714,745

17

$3,634,427

7

Anaheim

$63,820,000

$17,680,000

17

$3,754,118

8

NY Islanders

$63,829,188

$17,670,812

18

$3,546,066

9

Seattle

$65,106,666

$16,393,334

19

$3,426,667

10

Vancouver

$67,435,659

$14,064,341

22

$3,065,257

11

Carolina

$67,573,583

$13,926,417

20

$3,378,679

12

NY Rangers

$67,837,302

$13,662,698

24

$2,826,554

13

Calgary

$69,325,000

$12,175,000

17

$4,077,941

14

Columbus

$70,115,862

$11,384,138

25

$2,804,634

15

Arizona

$71,628,617

$9,871,383

20

$3,581,431

16

Philadelphia

$73,489,523

$8,010,477

21

$3,499,501

17

Florida

$73,669,622

$7,830,378

24

$3,069,568

18

Winnipeg

$73,784,645

$7,715,355

16

$4,611,540

19

St. Louis

$75,168,849

$6,331,151

20

$3,758,442

20

San Jose

$75,963,334

$5,536,666

21

$3,617,302

21

Colorado

$76,369,797

$5,130,203

20

$3,818,490

22

Washington

$78,831,260

$2,668,740

20

$3,941,563

23

Pittsburgh

$78,903,205

$2,596,795

21

$3,757,295

24

Los Angeles

$79,509,588

$1,990,412

24

$3,312,900

25

Edmonton

$80,298,968

$1,201,032

22

$3,649,953

26

Boston

$80,410,674

$1,089,326

23

$3,496,116

27

Toronto

$80,644,783

$855,217

23

$3,506,295

28

Montreal

$81,476,370

$23,630

21

$3,879,827

29

Vegas

$81,537,439

($37,439)*

20

$4,076,872

30

Chicago

$82,167,547

($667,547)*

22

$3,734,889

31

Dallas

$83,422,072

($1,922,072)*

22

$3,791,912

32

Tampa Bay

$87,240,955

($5,740,955)*

21

$4,154,331

*Over the cap limit due to Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR)

Rick Buker

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