Breaking Down Connor Hellebuyck’s Discounted Cap Hit

The early assessment of Friday’s Connor Hellebuyck trade has drawn mixed reviews.  Some think that the Devils acquired him at a discount while others think the Jets made out rather well.  Regardless of your take on the matter, New Jersey did indeed acquire the veteran netminder at a discount.  That is, a discount in his cap hit.

Section 15.13 (a) of the CBA has a clause that says players who miss time in training camp without permission are subject to a fixed reduction in pay.  The clause reads as follows:

For each day a Player does not report during Training Camp without his Club’s permission, his pay shall be reduced by 1/275th of his annual Paragraph 1 NHL Salary specified in his SPC without limitation of any other contract rights it may have.

Subsection (b) goes on to discuss the requirements for this rule to come into effect.  Basically, Hellebuyck had to request an absence, the team had to respond no in writing and allow ample time for Hellebuyck to “cure” and recant his request.  All of those things occurred, meaning the above rule was indeed applied.

Hellebuyck’s regular cap hit is $8.5MM.  Based on the 1/275th per day formula above, the reduced cap charge increases by $30,909.09 per day missed.  Winnipeg’s training camp lasted 13 days and he obviously missed all of them.  Thus, the reduction is 13 times the daily amount, or $401,818.20.  That moves his cap charge from $8.5MM to $8,098,182.  That will be Hellebuyck’s cap hit for the rest of the season, before reverting to the $8.5MM number starting in 2027-28 for the rest of his deal.

While that small difference may not seem like much, it’s actually rather important.  Per PuckPedia, the Devils currently have $8,216,636 in cap space.  That’s enough to add Hellebuyck to the active roster without needing to make any other moves.  Had it been the full cap charge, they wouldn’t have been able to pull it off without moving at least one other piece off their roster.  For that matter, they wouldn’t have been able to do this trade a week ago, as not enough space would have been banked at that time.

Now that the Devils have their new starter at a cheaper price they can afford for the rest of the season, the focus now shifts to when he’ll make his New Jersey debut.  Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek relayed (Twitter link) word from GM Sunny Mehta’s press conference today, noting that they’re still putting a plan together for when the netminder will return to action.  Speculatively, he’ll need at least a few practices and perhaps a quick AHL conditioning stint before suiting up for the Devils.  Until then, Jake Allen will retain the number one role while third-stringer Remi Poirier will get a short-term upgrade to the backup spot.