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) | |||||
Who in the heck are those guys who’ve been showing up clad in Penguins uniforms…
Although it seems almost impossible given the perpetually sorry state of our defense this season…
In a way, it was all-too-fitting that former GM Craig Patrick served as an in-studio…
A while back, Wright’s Gym member Dan Mazur had a premonition. Something along the lines…
In the wake of injuries to defenseman Ryan Shea (upper-body) and newly acquired forward Thomas…
The Penguins have signed a pair of defensemen, both former draft picks, during the past…