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

[sxvnert]

They need to trade Spencer Knight and use that cap space to retain all of their pending UFAs.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Assuming that Florida wins the Cup, they will have to go through what every Cup winner does, which is that pretty much every player on the team has increased their value to some degree or another by having Cup experience, which is highly valued by contenders. Sucks with UFAs, but that can also be an advantage in trades and Florida has a really good organization that isn't afraid to wheel-and-deal, so I'm sure they'll be just fine.

 

[Cats2TheCup]

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.

lolol at suggesting panthers will pay Montour 7+ after what they just got for Forsling. Lol and Reino likely leaving? Nah, reino likely signing on a team friendly deal. Also, I’m sure Zito has guys on his radar ready to replace anyone who he doesn’t sign, and the squad will keep humming. There are highly skilled undervalued players who deserve a chance in Florida and want to play there. Zito knows who they are and nobody else does.

 

[Scintillating10]

View attachment 882748

Florida Panthers Salary Cap, Draft Picks, and Player Contracts - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps​

Florida Panthers salary cap, contracts, roster, draft picks, salary, cap space, stats, salary cap projections, and daily cap tracking

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Top 5 forwards for Florida next year = 31 AAV. Core forwards Barkov, Tkachuk on team friendly deals long term.
Next year Top 4 forwards for Leafs = 46.6 AAV (terrible structure).

Hard to compete against this team in the playoffs.

Reinhart will hit jackpot. Going to be tough to keep that team together

 

[BluesyShoes]

I agree, they have a good core with lots of term left on good to great contracts, and most of those players should still have plenty of gas in the tank. Lots of ways to retool the roster around the core and come back in slightly different iterations over the next half decade or so.

I'm not a Florida fan, but their makeup fits what I want to believe about hockey as a sport and Barkov is the type of guy you love to see lead a team to success. Nothing personal against Edmonton, (if the rosters were reversed I'd be speaking the same about Edmonton) but seeing Florida perform like this against Edmonton is a bit of a moral victory for what I want to see have success in the league.

 

[Two4Fighting]

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.

That does not make any sense, if in 3-4 years when the cap is higher, 10-14 higher, and it looks fantastic, then it is cap friendly no matter how you slice it.
Budget are predictions of where everything should be, to stay on the right side of the ledger.

 

[Two4Fighting]

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.

Your argument can be used universally on any NHL team, what about Tampa? If they didn't have Vasalesky, what do you think the outcome would be, what about Igor? Should the Rangers be at the ECF?
I do not understand the rational for this comment

 

[Golden_Jet]

Not seeing how the cap gets better

 

[Two4Fighting]

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.

I am on board with this, he is not a good investment right now, I think, him and Ekblad are the better choices, I do not see Bob being moved yet, because he has a very good few years left on him. But if they decided to move Bob, I wouldn't be against it. That will solve lots of problems.

 

[Two4Fighting]

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

Exactly, Montour has been average, last year looks like a one off, I get that many team will offer close 7m, but, within the salary structure of the Panthers, it does not work, he will not make more than Forsling.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

FLA will be a major threat again next season forsure

 

[Two4Fighting]

lolol at suggesting panthers will pay Montour 7+ after what they just got for Forsling. Lol and Reino likely leaving? Nah, reino likely signing on a team friendly deal. Also, I’m sure Zito has guys on his radar ready to replace anyone who he doesn’t sign, and the squad will keep humming. There are highly skilled undervalued players who deserve a chance in Florida and want to play there. Zito knows who they are and nobody else does.

I have absolute confidence on Zito, he is so talented, he has transformed the team into a contender in such small amount of time.

 

[TS Quint]

Your argument can be used universally on any NHL team, what about Tampa? If they didn't have Vasalesky, what do you think the outcome would be, what about Igor? Should the Rangers be at the ECF?
I do not understand the rational for this comment

Read along. The point of the thread is what a great spot the Panthers are in with their cap. Someone lists their FAs to be saying there are a number of players due raises. Someone else says who cares we will use Bob's cap space when he is done. I am saying losing Bob is leaving a gaping hole on the team they aren't replacing making the team worse, to which we both agree.

 

[Two4Fighting]

Read along. The point of the thread is what a great spot the Panthers are in with their cap. Someone lists their FAs to be saying there are a number of players due raises. Someone else says who cares we will use Bob's cap space when he is done. I am saying losing Bob is leaving a gaping hole on the team they aren't replacing making the team worse, to which we both agree.

I appreciate the correction, had no context

 

[TS Quint]

That does not make any sense, if in 3-4 years when the cap is higher, 10-14 higher, and it looks fantastic, then it is cap friendly no matter how you slice it.
Budget are predictions of where everything should be, to stay on the right side of the ledger.

You don't look at the $ value of the contract to determine the value. You look at the CH%

 

[Face Of Bear]

Turns out a hard cap intentionally favors a team like Florida and intentionally puts a team like the Leafs at a disadvantage.

Working as Gary intended from the start.

 

[Thallis]

Turns out a hard cap intentionally favors a team like Florida and intentionally puts a team like the Leafs at a disadvantage.

Working as Gary intended from the start.

Florida has been at the bottom of the league for half of the salary Cap era.

 

[chaser17]

Montour is 30 and coming off a shoulder injury, gotta think he will be looking to maximize his value. Especially if he wins the cup here.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Florida will sign Justin Bailey and Jakub Vrana or some other super low value guys that'll probably combine to eliminate the Bruins in TD Garden for a 3rd year in a row making me want to reach for the bottle.

 

[Drake1588]

They have flexibility. The contracts they have are good ones. Yet they have key players entering unrestricted free agency this summer, who are likely going to be able to claim they just added Stanley Cup Champion to their resume, like Lundell, Reinhart and Montour. In July 2025, add Bennett and Verhaeghe to the list of UFAs. Lots of work to do.

 

[IceManCat]

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.

Montour will not get more than Forsling. Also hes almost thirty. In one year, we will have Bobs and Ekblads contract off the books thats another 17 million, plus there is a 5 million raise for next year. We have the perfect cap situation a contender could ask for.

It'll be hard for Reinhart to ask for more than Barkov and Tkachuk from FLA, but it only takes one team to offer him 12-13M. I can only guess how much he is enjoying playing in FLA, and with Maurice. If he is, the taking 8x9M in FLA rather than than 7 x12M in Utah(or wherever) might still happen... 24M is a lot to leave on the table, though.

Guarantee you Reino signs for under 10 mill.

 

[Chaos2k7]

Bob has 2 years left at a cap hit of 10 million, but 6 million per in real dollars. Also his NMC is about to convert to a 16 team NTC.

If they want/need to move him they can/will and not by adding picks.

 

[Drake1588]

Bob has 2 years left at a cap hit of 10 million, but 6 million per in real dollars. Also his NMC is about to convert to a 16 team NTC.

If they want/need to move him they can/will and not by adding picks.

It's not that hard to put together a list of teams that can't afford to add a $10M cap hit. That NMC is still pretty ironclad.

 

[Jacob582]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned but someone needs to offer sheet Lundell just like someone should have offer sheeted Alexis Lafreniere last year. Make things hard for these best teams.

Won't happen though. Just doesn't happen.

 

[Chaos2k7]

It's not that hard to put together a list of teams that can't afford to add a $10M cap hit. That NMC is still pretty ironclad.

Surely we would have to take some contract(s) back, but a Cup winning goalie won't be that difficult to move in a league desperate for goalies