At the Board of Governors meeting this week, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that the NHL’s current revenue projections are strong enough that player escrow debt could be retired this season, leading to a potential salary cap increase of up to $4.5 million next summer.
It may be too optimistic of a projection, but if we do see that best-case scenario play out and the cap jumps by $4.5 million…Which team would benefit the most in the summer of 2023?
Over to you, Daily Faceoff Roundtable.
MATT LARKIN: I’d be very curious to see what the Florida Panthers can accomplish with extra breathing room. I’ve been hard on them about giving up too much to get Matthew Tkachuk and possibly setting themselves back in the short term, but GM Bill Zito could make me look silly if the Panthers gain an extra chunk of cap space this coming summer with the freedom to make some high-impact additions. Patric Hornqvist’s $5.3 million AAV comes off their books, too. The 2023 UFA class currently projects to have some nice variety, from relatively young players with prime years left (David Pastrnak, Dylan Larkin) to veteran stars who might want to chase another championship like Patrick Kane. Maybe the Panthers have had big plans for 2023 all along.
NICK ALBERGA: The Tampa Bay Lightning for me. I can only imagine what GM Julien BriseBois can whip up with an extra $4.5 million to spend. Tampa, by no fault of its own, has been handcuffed cap-wise over the past few seasons. Unfortunately, the Lightning have had to part ways with some really key pieces, Ryan McDonagh being the latest this past offseason. For my money, the Lightning are approaching dynasty territory, at least the modern-day form. With a couple of extra bucks to spend, the sky’s the limit, especially when you possess the nucleus and foundation they do. I wouldn’t put it past them to find some marquee depth pieces to help them get over the top once again. Yeah, something tells me Tampa’s going to be around for a while.
MIKE MCKENNA: I tried to find every reason not to say the Vegas Golden Knights. But when you look at who they have under contract through the 2023-24 season, it’s almost the entire team. Phil Kessel, Adin Hill and Laurent Brossoit are the only three notables coming off the books at the completion of the 2022-23 campaign. And I think there’s a good chance that one of those two goaltenders won’t finish the season with Vegas. So realistically, barring another blockbuster trade, what you see is what you get with the Golden Knights through 2023-24. They’re missing scoring down the wing, and an extra $4.5 million would go a long way in replacing the boatload of talent the team has been forced to unload recently in order to become cap compliant.
FRANK SERAVALLI: Hey, Matt, don’t forget that the Panthers have more than $5 million in dead cap money coming off the books next summer, too. There are so many intriguing answers to this question — which makes it a great one. The Wild’s dead-cap issues with the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts will be lightened. The Caps and Pens will have more breathing room to find support players for their stars. But I can’t believe we’ve gone through this exercise and no one has said the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re my answer, and yes, this low-hanging fruit was too easy to pass up. Hey, Kyle Dubas, here is $4.5 million in new money to go out and add a defenseman your team so desperately needs. It could be even more than that to spend depending on the status of Jake Muzzin when this season is all said and done. No team has been more damaged by the flat-cap environment than Toronto with what they were building on the cap. No team will be more relieved to be out of it.
STEVEN ELLIS: All of these are fantastic answers. I’ll throw one more into the equation: the Buffalo Sabres. They currently have the most cap space right now with $19.73 million, and Owen Power and Peyton Krebs aren’t restricted free agents until next year. However, they’re a team on the upswing, and they’re still building. Having Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka signed until 2025 helps, but Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Cozens, Dahlin and Krebs will all need deals in the near future, and they’ll need to figure out long-term goalie options. They’ll have Kyle Okposo’s $6 million cap hit off the books, and just under a million from Cody Hodgson’s buyout will be free, but GM Kevyn Adams will have an opportunity to maximize his assets and take this team forward in the rebuild. For the Sabres, it’s all about taking advantage of the extra space instead of making up for past contract mistakes. That extra runway should be exciting for Sabres fans.
More must-reads: