Florida's salary cap structure: good now, likely to get even better

[KovalchukFistPump]

Lol at trading Bobrovsky while he's the favorite for the Conn Smythe. I know Vegas traded Fleury after a Vezina, but that's slightly different.

Knight probably has to go. Sucks because Florida might want him to be the successor to Bob but they need every dollar to go for it again next year. Plus I think you can recoup some decent assets for Knight due to his potential, even if he hasn't been that great in the AHL.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

double post

 

[StreetHawk]

Lol at trading Bobrovsky while he's the favorite for the Conn Smythe. I know Vegas traded Fleury after a Vezina, but that's slightly different.

Knight probably has to go. Sucks because Florida might want him to be the successor to Bob but they need every dollar to go for it again next year. Plus I think you can recoup some decent assets for Knight due to his potential, even if he hasn't been that great in the AHL.

Knight is a $4.5 mill cap hit. Don't think teams are rolling the dice on him unless it's an up and coming team that give him time to develop, but he's making solid starter money.... which would decrease the return.

 

[QJL]

How would it get better? Reinhart alone will be cashing in. Easily getting 9-10M on an 8 year deal.

And Barkov and Tkachuk aren't exactly on "team friendly" deals at 10M and 9.5M.

So you have 4 players, Bob included, making 40M+

edit - oh and forgot about Montour. How much will get get?

All of this is correct except for the Barkov and Tkachuk comment. Those are team friendly deals and they are going to be outstanding deals going forward with the cap rise.

 

[Sypher04]

Somebody is going to overpay him because he scored 73 points last year.

This is likely true. Despite the fact he’s never had more than 37 in any other year.

 

[TS Quint]

Bob+ Ekblad are the way to make room



How are they not on?

Matthews& Mackinnon will make 3M more than Barkov

He’s not going to be even close to being paid his value



Also some players value winning, Barkov set the example& bar at 10

Panthers don’t get to where they are today without Bob, arguably their best player in the playoffs and one of the best goaltenders in the league overall. Let’s not pretend losing him means nothing.

Also Barkov is being paid fairly. Like it or not offense pays, defense wins.

 

[BB88]

Panthers don’t get to where they are today without Bob, arguably their best player in the playoffs and one of the best goaltenders in the league overall. Let’s not pretend losing him means nothing.

Also Barkov is being paid fairly. Like it or not offense pays, defense wins.

Nobody thinks Barkov is paid fairly, he was on a steal contract the moment he signed it

The man scored 88 points in 67 games and has a career high of 96 (prior to scoring really rising)

Of course losing Bob is going to hurt them but he’s getting old anyways and carries a 10M cap hit

Being able to keep both Bennett& Verhaeghe is far more valuable

 

[The Crypto Guy]

All of this is correct except for the Barkov and Tkachuk comment. Those are team friendly deals and they are going to be outstanding deals going forward with the cap rise.

You have to look at if it was considered a "team friendly" deal the time they were made. And neither were very team friendly, they were fair to both team/player at best.

In 3-4 years when the cap is 10-14M higher then of course it will look good, like most deals that were made years ago.

 

[kingsholygrail]

They're going to have to let some guys go.

 

[I am not exposed]

Ya this actually looks kind of awful for them. Over the next two offseasons.

Reinhart
Montour
Verhaeghe
Bennett
Lundell
Ekblad

All due for raises and potential significant ones.

I don't think they will re-sign Montour. Last year was an outlier, and some team will give him more than we are willing.

Ekblad current makes $7.5m. I don't think Zito will offer him a contract more than that, and I can see him leaving.

Reinhart is an interesting one this offseason. It was his best regular season ever, but he's come back to his standard during the playoffs. He shouldn't make more than Barkov or Tkachuk. If he asks for more, I could see him leaving. But I think Zito does a deal around $8.5m for several years.

Lundell's regular seasons have been overall underwhelming. But he steps up during playoffs. They will keep him unless some team offers a ridiculous offer sheet.

Bennett is often injured, but when he isn't, is a very important player for us.

If Reinhart isn't re-signed in the offseason, I think it will make it easier to keep Bennett and Verhaeghe. If Reinhart isn't re-signed, then i think we can only keep one of them.

It isn't going to be easy, but Zito has overall been very astute so far, and I have confidence he will do what is best for the team.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Will look even better after they trade Ekblad

 

[barkovcanfinnish]

I think Zito needs to decide what to do with Spencer Knight. I really think he’s gonna pan out to be a starting goalie somewhere but his cap hit is a little steep for what he’s doing right now. I don’t foresee him taking full-time reigns in Florida until Bob’s last contract year and it might be more of a 1A-1B thing if we still have him.

Moving him frees up money for someone like Lundell. Who knows.

 

[razor ray]

If the package Knight (and probably a future pick) to someone they will have 24.5 Mill in cap space. They could get some, not all, of those top players back with that much cap space.

 

[Gurglesons]

Florida needs to move Ekblad for an absolute haul.

That dude is already toast and his contract is going to be awful.

Toronto seems like prime real estate for him lol.

 

[QJL]

You have to look at if it was considered a "team friendly" deal the time they were made. And neither were very team friendly, they were fair to both team/player at best.

In 3-4 years when the cap is 10-14M higher then of course it will look good, like most deals that were made years ago.

I am looking at the stature of the deal at the time it was made. The following players have higher AAVs and signed during that same season as Barkov/Tkachuk or earlier: Panarin, Tavares, Marner, Huberdeau. Add Gaudreau to the list of higher AAV than Tkachuk.

Barkov was a Selke winner in 20-21, a finalist in 21-22, and was coming off an 88 point in 67 GP performance when he signed that contract.

Tkachuk was coming off a 104 point season at age 24.

Those were definitely team friendly contracts aided by desire to win and the tax situation in Florida. Both players could’ve asked for and received another 1M+ more annually.

 

[TS Quint]

Nobody thinks Barkov is paid fairly, he was on a steal contract the moment he signed it

The man scored 88 points in 67 games and has a career high of 96 (prior to scoring really rising)

Of course losing Bob is going to hurt them but he’s getting old anyways and carries a 10M cap hit

Being able to keep both Bennett& Verhaeghe is far more valuable

Barkov's contract is fair. Calm down.

Doesn't matter if Bob is old. It's a down grade either way.

 

[olli]

Their best goal scorer and one of their best defensemen need contracts this offseason.

Lundell will get a decent raise too.

They have a little over 20M in cap space with 7 forwards a 4 defensemen under contract. They need 8 more players to fill that roster. Montour likely makes 7+, Lundell gets 3+. The other 6 guys will be on ELCs or 1-2M players.

They certainly won't be in a better position next year compared to the current one and I wouldn't say they are in the best position in general.

It's good they have flexibility but they need to fill that roster and it's unlikely they will be able to keep Reinhart.

Why would they give Montour 7+ after giving Forslin 5.75?

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Florida and Carolina have similarly-strong cap flexibility. It'll be interesting to see how both of them move forward with it. Zito's group has sort of had a magical run with pro-scouting, often on the bleeding edges of the UFA, non-tender, buyout, and waiver markets, in order to compensate for the utter lack of draft capital, and it's tough to determine if that magic continues or if it peters out at some point. The Canes strategy is more draft-capital and farm system dependent.

 

[Markster]

Whenever a team wins the Cup, their salary cap situation is sure to deteriorate.

 

[Panteras]

Whenever a team wins the Cup, their salary cap situation is sure to deteriorate.

We still haven’t won it yet. But if we do. Let it deteriorate all it wants.

 

[CanadienShark]

I'm not seeing it. They have no anchor contracts, but have a lot of key pieces due massive raises this year and next.

 

[Marco 85]

Why would they give Montour 7+ after giving Forslin 5.75?

Forsling is the heart and soul of the defense.
He is the best D man by far on the team and
the most under rated D man in the league.

Montour and/or Ekblad will be gone next season.

Ekblad’s body has been battered and he’s not
the same player as he was only a couple of years ago. Over paid currently.

Montour isn’t going to take less than Forsling.
He going to get paid but not by Florida.

 

[olli]

Forsling is the heart and soul of the defense.
He is the best D man by far on the team and
the most under rated D man in the league.

Montour and/or Ekblad will be gone next season.

Ekblad’s body has been battered and he’s not
the same player as he was only a couple of years ago. Over paid currently.

Montour isn’t going to take less than Forsling.
He going to get paid but not by Florida.

So who will replace them?

 

[Marco 85]

So who will replace them?

They have a few options.

Balliskis (excuse the spelling) is one option.
They signed him to an extension earlier
this year. They like his potential.
Played a few games earlier in the year.

Mahura is a RFA who has playoff experience.
They had offers for him but turned them down.
Wanted some security in case of injuries.

 

[Frank Drebin]

We can easily move out our conn smythe winner for cap space