Habs Salary Cap Info and FAQ's

[DON 165]

This will be Seattle's year to pluck players from each team also.

I assume the cap will rise; but will getting these 7 guys (or their replacements) resigned in 2021 be a huge worry?

Likely one or two will be gone by then (thinking Tatar, Danault or Petry)

[Habs Fan in Edmonton 26]

Just a question.  CapFriendly lists a roster size which is different for each team as some teams still have players to sign.  How many players from the roster actually count toward the cap when the season begins?   Thanks

[Commandant 1414]

18 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Just a question.  CapFriendly lists a roster size which is different for each team as some teams still have players to sign.  How many players from the roster actually count toward the cap when the season begins?   Thanks

 

As many as the team has on the roster. 

 

Max Roster size is 23... but some teams carry 22. 

You also have IR.  They don't count towards the 23 but still count on the cap. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton 26]

Thanks. Obviously if they send someone to the AHL from their roster it would still count toward the cap or would it not count if they had a 2 way contract? 

[Commandant 1414]

5 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Thanks. Obviously if they send someone to the AHL from their roster it would still count toward the cap or would it not count if they had a 2 way contract? 

 

Approximately $1 million can be buried in the AHL.... so if you send Weise and Alzner to the AHL, you save about $2 million, and the rest stays on your cap. 

[dlbalr 1014]

26 minutes ago, Commandant said:

Approximately $1 million can be buried in the AHL.... so if you send Weise and Alzner to the AHL, you save about $2 million, and the rest stays on your cap. 

 

Just to tack onto this and cover the second part of the question, the two-way contract doesn't exempt them from counting against the cap.  That only determines what the player is actually making at each level but the NHL cap hit counts in full when a player on a two-way deal is in the NHL.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton 26]

Thanks Commandant and dlbalr.  Obviously this cap stuff is complicated for some teams.  Toronto fans were excited when they signed Tavares but it's having a real negative effect on the team now. They gave up a first round pick to shed salary and they still have work to do. You really need those young guys on entry level contracts coming up to keep your cap in line.  I assume Bergevin realizes this. Would hate to see Montreal in a similiar position in a couple years.  You just can't overpay for free agents unless you are in a position where you have a bunch of great contracts already (ie. Colorado has a sweet deal with Nathan McKinnon). 

[Trizzak 1074]

First I've seen Peca's name attached to Laval, but I don't disagree. With Lindgren also on a 1 way deal, that will be $8 425 000 on the farm team. Somebody's gotta get dealt, no way Molson wants to pay that much on the farm team all season. 

[dlbalr 1014]

18 minutes ago, Trizzak said:

First I've seen Peca's name attached to Laval, but I don't disagree. With Lindgren also on a 1 way deal, that will be $8 425 000 on the farm team. Somebody's gotta get dealt, no way Molson wants to pay that much on the farm team all season. 

1

 

I've figured that's all but a foregone conclusion going back to April.

[Richard09 8]

We don't have to worry abou the HABS ever being close to the cap limit. MB seems content to manage the team about 10M under teh limit, instead of spending the money to get top end talent to help win a championship. If you look at his record every year he ends up being about that under the limit. 

[Habber31 18]

A move is going to happen

[Commandant 1414]

2 hours ago, Richard09 said:

We don't have to worry abou the HABS ever being close to the cap limit. MB seems content to manage the team about 10M under teh limit, instead of spending the money to get top end talent to help win a championship. If you look at his record every year he ends up being about that under the limit. 

 

 

We have been right up to the limit in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

 

Teams should only be up to the limit if it is worth spending the money on the player.  He could sign a player tomorrow to get to the limit, but if that player isn't worth the money, then why would they?

Its silliness to say the team is too cheap to spend to the cap.  They tried to with Aho.  They tried to sign Duchene.  If the money isn't being spent, its not because they are unwilling to spend it, its because it needs to be on the right players.  Another Karl Alzner or Scott Gomez contract doesn't help the team. 

[titanfan 13]

All of this cap space sure disappeared quickly, and for little impact!

 

The Habs currently sit 19th out of 31 teams in the NHL when it comes to Cap Space.  That means 18 teams have more cap room than Montreal.

 

In the Atlantic Division, ONLY Florida ($2.4 M) and Toronto (screwed!) have less Cap Space than Montreal.

 

As for Canadian teams, ONLY Edmonton ($2.4M) and Toronto (screwed!) have less cap space than Montreal.

 

I only point this out because it seems the conversation over the past couple of months (years?) has been all of this Cap Space that Montreal has. 

 

In reality, the Habs only have $4M in Cap Space.  Factor in injuries, a possible mid season trade, etc, and there really isn't that much room!! 

 

Sure we are in better shape than the Leafs (when it comes to Cap Space), but they are SCREWED! (Did I mention that before?)  So are The Rangers, Pittsburgh and Arizona.  With Washington, Dallas and Vegas not far behind (so yeah, there is that!)

 

Compare that to Ottawa ($20.6M), Winnipeg ($17.6M), New Jersey ($17M), Colorado ($16.5M), Columbus ($15.8M), Philadelphia ($13.4M) and Calgary ($10M) and we are far from swimming in Cap Space.  Granted some of those teams still have pieces to sign, and the Habs are pretty much SET, but still the numbers don't lie.

 

And the numbers say that, barring a trade, there isn't a whole lot left that Bergevin can do.  

 

EDIT: and the Habs Cap Space doesn't include $$ to bring up guys that surprise in camp and make the team!

Edited July 24 by titanfan

[Commandant 1414]

41 minutes ago, titanfan said:

All of this cap space sure disappeared quickly, and for little impact!

 

The Habs currently sit 19th out of 31 teams in the NHL when it comes to Cap Space.  That means 18 teams have more cap room than Montreal.

 

In the Atlantic Division, ONLY Florida ($2.4 M) and Toronto (screwed!) have less Cap Space than Montreal.

 

As for Canadian teams, ONLY Edmonton ($2.4M) and Toronto (screwed!) have less cap space than Montreal.

 

I only point this out because it seems the conversation over the past couple of months (years?) has been all of this Cap Space that Montreal has. 

 

In reality, the Habs only have $4M in Cap Space.  Factor in injuries, a possible mid season trade, etc, and there really isn't that much room!! 

 

Sure we are in better shape than the Leafs (when it comes to Cap Space), but they are SCREWED! (Did I mention that before?)  So are The Rangers, Pittsburgh and Arizona.  With Washington, Dallas and Vegas not far behind (so yeah, there is that!)

 

Compare that to Ottawa ($20.6M), Winnipeg ($17.6M), New Jersey ($17M), Colorado ($16.5M), Columbus ($15.8M), Philadelphia ($13.4M) and Calgary ($10M) and we are far from swimming in Cap Space.  Granted some of those teams still have pieces to sign, and the Habs are pretty much SET, but still the numbers don't lie.

 

And the numbers say that, barring a trade, there isn't a whole lot left that Bergevin can do.  

 

EDIT: and the Habs Cap Space doesn't include $$ to bring up guys that surprise in camp and make the team!

 

 

After sending Weise, Peca and Alzner the AHL, the Habs will have over 7 million in cap space. 

CapFriendly lists them on the team.  The also list the Habs as having 25 players on the roster (when NHL max is 23). 

You need to look at these things and not just assume that the CapFriendly number is the final number. 

[Richard09 8]

The Aho offer sheet was a joke, Carolina was going to match escpecially when the return was so small. Gomez was a dumb move, there is no way a team would take a contract like Gomez and give so so much asset.

If the Habs are so tight against the Cap then they have wasted the money, other than Price the rest would be overpaid when you look at the value other teams are getting for thier money.  That comes with bad moves by MB to pick up the likes of Alzner and overpaying for Drouin. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton 26]

59 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

 

We have been right up to the limit in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

 

Teams should only be up to the limit if it is worth spending the money on the player.  He could sign a player tomorrow to get to the limit, but if that player isn't worth the money, then why would they?

Its silliness to say the team is too cheap to spend to the cap.  They tried to with Aho.  They tried to sign Duchene.  If the money isn't being spent, its not because they are unwilling to spend it, its because it needs to be on the right players.  Another Karl Alzner or Scott Gomez contract doesn't help the team. 

 

Agree 100%, just plain silly to spend recklessly to get to the cap. Then what happens if a good opportunity comes up??

[dlbalr 1014]

On the first page of this thread, there's a graphic that shows the breakdown in recapture liability for the Shea Weber trade.  I believed it to be correct but never ran the numbers myself.  I should have as the Montreal liability calculated in there wasn't quite right.  Below is the correct recapture potential for the Habs:

 

 

Any amount listed in the final column (Recapture Potential) would be the annual amount charged on Montreal's cap through 2025-26 if Weber was to retire early.  For example, if Weber retires following 2021-22, the Habs would be charged $214,285.50 per year through 2025-26.

 

And Nashville's, for those interested:

 

[tomh009 135]

Thanks. But this does not show the recapture potential for Nashville ... which is somewhere around $24M, divided by the number of years left on the contract. Maybe include that in the table as well?

[dlbalr 1014]

1 hour ago, tomh009 said:

Thanks. But this does not show the recapture potential for Nashville ... which is somewhere around $24M, divided by the number of years left on the contract. Maybe include that in the table as well?

 

The table would get a little long if I tried to put them both in the same one (plus I'd have to re-do the table since I didn't save Montreal's on my computer).  I've done a separate one for Nashville and added it to that post.

[tomh009 135]

Thanks!

[Habs Fan in Edmonton 26]

Thanks for this information. I had no idea Nashville would be on the hook for the rest of Weber's contract should he retire early. It makes his contract far easier to swallow.