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How New Salary Cap Could Affect Penguins’ Rebuild; WBS Prospects Benefit
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- How New Salary Cap Could Affect Penguins’ Rebuild; WBS Prospects Benefit
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Believe it or not, it would benefit the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby to tear up his current contract and re-sign him to a new, much more lucrative deal. That won't happen, but the scenario highlights the predicament that Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas could encounter this summer, or even into next season.
While the focus remains on Evgeni Malkin , his expiring contract and his public push to get a new contract, the NHL salary cap spike continued, and commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed to teams the ceiling will be a whopping $104 million.
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While the rebuilding Penguins will have absolutely no reason to spend to the cap unless Dubas is able to acquire a bevy of top players for magic beans and IOUs, they will be mandated to spend to the salary cap floor, which will be over $76 million.
For context, just two years ago the NHL salary cap was about $84 million. Now, the floor will be $76.9 million.
The rising cap means the Penguins have about $42 million in cap space (following new contracts to Connor Dewar and Ilya Solovyov but not factoring potential savings for re-assignments of Ryan Graves and Jake Livanavage), but Dubas also has to spend about $14 to $16 million on five roster spots to reach the floor.
AFP Analytics , which properly nailed Dewar's $2.25 million extension, projected Egor Chinakhov at $2.1 million, but that was before Chinakhov filled the net in the second half of the season. Since Chinakhov has arbitration rights, a $4 million average annual value seems appropriate on a short-term deal.
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Ryan Shea projects at $3.3 million and Arturs Silovs at $2.1. So, with the sprinkle of a couple of bargain contracts or rookies in the lineup, the Penguins will hit the cap floor, and problem solved, right?
Not quite.
As the Penguins just get to the salary cap floor, that also means Dubas cannot trade away veterans to further the rebuild. Should he get a good offer for players such as Erik Karlsson , Rickard Rakell , or even Kris Letang , Dubas could not make a trade without acquiring equal or greater salary in return.
And just to up the degree of difficulty for the balance beam routine that Dubas has expertly performed over the past year, fewer teams will look to make the type of salary dump trades Dubas has used effectively to acquire draft picks with Kevin Hayes and Matt Dumba , because of the skyrocketing cap.
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With some irony, or a truckload full, Dubas could benefit from re-signing Malkin in order to make other trades and continue the rebuild.
WBS Playoff Benefits
The Penguins are in a position to benefit greatly from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins playoff run.
The first benefits beyond extra hockey for prospects such as Harrison Brunicke and Rutger McGroarty is for management to evaluate those prospects under pressure. And the Penguins are about to reap the third benefit: a longer season means more prospects from junior hockey can join the team.
The Penguins will get that cookie when the second of three 2025 first-round picks, Bill Zonnon (22nd overall), joins the team. Zonnon, 19, signed an amateur tryout agreement Thursday and could plug into the lineup at any point (he is not in the lineup Thursday night as the team tries to eliminate Hershey in Game 4 of their best-of-five) to get his first taste of professional hockey.
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Zonnon showed well last summer in the prospect development camp, but injuries cost him the chance to show his wares against professional players in the fall.
Zonnon has the size and skating ability that project well to pro hockey. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, he could become a unique power center or a strong winger.
The post How New Salary Cap Could Affect Penguins' Rebuild; WBS Prospects Benefit appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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