Speculation: Sorry to be the one to ask, but what do the Blue Jackets do?

[SeanMoneyHands]

Not looking great at all. The floor limit they must spend is 65 million. Projected to be less than 63 million. Who will they trade for? Also, will Monahan want to stay?

I doubt Monahan will be there for his 5 year term. My guess is he asks for a trade by year 3. The reason he signed there was to play with his bestie Gaudreau.

 

[EspenK]

Can someone please explain to me why acquiring a guy on LTIR helps CBJ get the floor?

 

[Jovavic]

Can someone please explain to me why acquiring a guy on LTIR helps CBJ get the floor?

I believe we wouldn't put them on LTIR, they would be in the active line up and need to be scratched every game for the cap hit to register. Or maybe regular IR still has the cap hit apply?

 

[Don Nachbaur 26]

I believe we wouldn't put them on LTIR, they would be in the active line up and need to be scratched every game for the cap hit to register. Or maybe regular IR still has the cap hit apply?

That's kind of what I thought too. Flyers didn't LTIR Ellis the one year

 

[Crede777]

I believe we wouldn't put them on LTIR, they would be in the active line up and need to be scratched every game for the cap hit to register. Or maybe regular IR still has the cap hit apply?

LTIR still has the cap hit apply. But it allows the team to exceed the cap ceiling by the amount of the player's calculated cap.

 

[EspenK]

LTIR still has the cap hit apply. But it allows the team to exceed the cap ceiling by the amount of the player's calculated cap.

I'm not sure that works for staying above the cap floor?
I think Jovavic's reply makes the most sense. Although it still doesn't make any practical sense to me. I'd rather have JVR or Okposo, guys who can still play in a pinch and provide some vet leadership.

 

[rojac]

I'm not sure that works for staying above the cap floor?
I think Jovavic's reply makes the most sense. Although it still doesn't make any practical sense to me. I'd rather have JVR or Okposo, guys who can still play in a pinch and provide some vet leadership.

 

[Xoggz22]

I may be missing something here, but teams usually take on LTIR players to allow them to exceed the cap. What's the incentive for a team to actually move a LTIR player? I can't see one and I don't see any way the CBJ would pay an asset to take on such a player. If that was the only option, I'm banging on the league office to say give us an exemption for 1 year and we'll be in compliance after this year if we can't get there another way (which they easily should be able to financially without pursuing a stupid move to do do). Taking on a LTIR contract still would require them to add a player to the roster to meet the roster minimum requirements. In addition, unless that contract is 100% paid for, no way CBJ takes on a contract of someone to not play and pay them. If they were to do that they would have retained on Laine to change the dynamics of that deal.

GMDW will continue to look to take on a player that makes some semblance of short term sense as a contract dump and gets another asset with it. Or he monitors waivers. Or they make another deal for an actual usable asset. They will not take on something just to meet the Cap floor with nothing in it for them. Just makes zero sense.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

They could take the Backstrom contract from Washington.

He is LTIRetired. Assuming his signing bonuses were paid in July, his base salary is 2M. Assuming a portion of that is covered by insurance, that is a reasonably cheap route to buy enough cap space to get to the floor and have a buffer for trades.

Washington doesn’t need to move Backstrom. Maybe there’s a “future considerations for Backstrom” trade to be made but Washington is fine with regards to cap space, especially now that they’re not retaining any money on the Kuznetsov contract.

 

[JPT]

I never said it was the case for CBJ, and I have not advocated for an exemption. I do think the league will try to put some parameters in place in case something terrible like this happens in the future. Now that everyone is on notice that it could happen, it would be irresponsible for the league not to address it. The main point of the post you replied to is the bereavement policies of random employers are irrelevant to this discussion (which is true and should not be controversial).

If teams' management groups weren't previously aware of the fragility of life, I have to wonder why they are managing anything at all.

 

[Crede777]

I may be missing something here, but teams usually take on LTIR players to allow them to exceed the cap. What's the incentive for a team to actually move a LTIR player? I can't see one and I don't see any way the CBJ would pay an asset to take on such a player. If that was the only option, I'm banging on the league office to say give us an exemption for 1 year and we'll be in compliance after this year if we can't get there another way (which they easily should be able to financially without pursuing a stupid move to do do). Taking on a LTIR contract still would require them to add a player to the roster to meet the roster minimum requirements. In addition, unless that contract is 100% paid for, no way CBJ takes on a contract of someone to not play and pay them. If they were to do that they would have retained on Laine to change the dynamics of that deal.

GMDW will continue to look to take on a player that makes some semblance of short term sense as a contract dump and gets another asset with it. Or he monitors waivers. Or they make another deal for an actual usable asset. They will not take on something just to meet the Cap floor with nothing in it for them. Just makes zero sense.

I agree that there are restrictions around who the CBJ should take on LTIR. It needs to be 100% certain that the player will be on LTIR for the entirety of the season. The player needs to have only 1 year left in his contract. And there shouldn't be any signing bonuses that the team would need to pay.

As for why a team may be willing to move a player in that situation, the fact is that teams have to be cap compliant before the season starts and the player can actually be put on LTIR. During the offseason, teams are granted a cap cushion. But there is a day where they have to be cap compliant and this is before they can technically put a player on LTIR. Meaning they would be over the cap if they don't make a move. The Jackets have been in that scenario a few times and have had to make paper moves (such as one time sending down Wennberg who was waiver exempt) to be cap compliant before putting someone on LTIR and being able to recall the sent down player.

 

[God]

I may be missing something here, but teams usually take on LTIR players to allow them to exceed the cap. What's the incentive for a team to actually move a LTIR player? I can't see one and I don't see any way the CBJ would pay an asset to take on such a player. If that was the only option, I'm banging on the league office to say give us an exemption for 1 year and we'll be in compliance after this year if we can't get there another way (which they easily should be able to financially without pursuing a stupid move to do do). Taking on a LTIR contract still would require them to add a player to the roster to meet the roster minimum requirements. In addition, unless that contract is 100% paid for, no way CBJ takes on a contract of someone to not play and pay them. If they were to do that they would have retained on Laine to change the dynamics of that deal.

GMDW will continue to look to take on a player that makes some semblance of short term sense as a contract dump and gets another asset with it. Or he monitors waivers. Or they make another deal for an actual usable asset. They will not take on something just to meet the Cap floor with nothing in it for them. Just makes zero sense.

Teams that are close to the cap would rather move an LTIR player and accrue cap space during the season to allow for deadline deals. It operates on the upper limit having the daily salary of players subtracted from it each day. So the more space you have, the easier it is to add a big ticket player at the deadline. This season the deadline is 40 days before the end of the regular season, so you only need enough projected cap space to hold ~21.5% of the player's cap hit when you trade for them.

See: https://puckpedia.com/salary-cap/8-team-cap-hit-calculations-accrued-cap-space

You can act like Vegas if you want, but there have been numerous times when they haven't been able to call up a player in the case of injury due to not having cap space and had to field a short lineup.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

Washington doesn’t need to move Backstrom. Maybe there’s a “future considerations for Backstrom” trade to be made but Washington is fine with regards to cap space, especially now that they’re not retaining any money on the Kuznetsov contract.

I agree with this. Especially if it is true that Oshie is LTIRetired.

It would be Backstrom to CBJ as a favour to CBJ because it allows them to buy a 9.2M cap cushion for whatever is left of Backstrom's 2M base salary after insurance (if insured).

CBJ does not only need to reach the floor, but they also need a cushion over it. Also, getting over the floor gives them leverage in future dealings that involve taking cap (Ceci+3rd type trades), because the teams they are dealing with will understand that CBJ no longer has to make a deal just to get above the cap floor.

 

[Crede777]

CBJ does not only need to reach the floor, but they also need a cushion over it. Also, getting over the floor gives them leverage in future dealings that involve taking cap (Ceci+3rd type trades), because the teams they are dealing with will understand that CBJ no longer has to make a deal just to get above the cap floor.

Ah yes, it's important for Columbus to protect itself from GM's who may wish to take advantage of this horrible tragedy.

 

[JohnLennon]

I think it would be smart of them to sign a veteran with tons of character and who can score goals. I'm thinking James van Riemsdyk would be a very smart addition for this team. Put him on the second line with Adam Fantilli.

I'd actually be surprised if they weren't one of the top teams pursuing him.

 

[HockeyScotty]

Couple of players I would target if I were Columbus:

Christian Dvorak - LW/C - Montreal - $4,450,000 x 1 (M-NTC however) could be cheap to acquire as MTL-CBJ just completed the Laine deal prior to Gaudreau tragedy and Dvorak is coming off a major injury and poor recent performance. Habs could then choose to not use LTIR if they wanted to accrue cap space (either to bolster their roster or take on cap dumps/broker deals at TDL). Dvorak needs to re-establish himself in the NHL both performance and recovery from injury-wise and MTL has plenty of NHL-ready forwards. If he does then CBJ could recoup some assets at TDL and move him with retention to a contender (hence why Dvorak might waive NTC). CBJ has used 0 of their 3 spots; while MTL has used 2 already and might need the 3rd for Josh Anderson or David Savard.

Barrett Hayton - C - Utah - $2,650,000 x 2 (RFA) his AAV would plug the gap almost perfectly to hit the cap floor (just need to do some AHL paper-moves/callups with Malatesta over Fix-Wolansky or Knazko/Berni over Christiansen). Hayton would be more costly but has higher potential and he might have lost his spot to McBain if he doesn't blow him out during training camp. Utah actually has "too many" NHL forwards with guys like Carcone/O'Brien being pushed out by Doan. If Cooley takes the 1C job and McBain the 2C role and Doan makes the team then Hayton is a trade candidate.

Brandon Tanev - LW - Seattle - $3,500,000 x 1. His AAV gets them over the floor and he would slot in on 3rd line LW allowing Kent Johnson to fill the 1LW role. Again, he would be a guy they use until the TDL and flip for more assets with possible retention.

 

[majormajor]

Ah yes, it's important for Columbus to protect itself from GM's who may wish to take advantage of this horrible tragedy.

I actually think there will be GMs who would like to do something very mutually beneficial with the Jackets, perhaps even a favor. There was speculation that Seattle drafted Bayreuther (and released him back to the Jackets) as a kindness after the death of Kivlenieks, who was Seattle's original target in the expansion draft.

I think a temporary exemption from the cap floor would be good though. It's not good to have to do player movement because of a tragedy like this.

I think it would be smart of them to sign a veteran with tons of character and who can score goals. I'm thinking James van Riemsdyk would be a very smart addition for this team. Put him on the second line with Adam Fantilli.

I'd actually be surprised if they weren't one of the top teams pursuing him.

With Gaudreau's death, the Jackets are taking a step back now. They have a bevy of young forwards who would benefit from offensive deployment and PP time. Marchenko, Chinakhov, Voronkov, Fantilli, Kent Johnson. It makes more sense to add a checker and leader like Okposo and have the kids take care of the offense.

 

[majormajor]

Couple of players I would target if I were Columbus:

Christian Dvorak - LW/C - Montreal - $4,450,000 x 1 (M-NTC however) could be cheap to acquire as MTL-CBJ just completed the Laine deal prior to Gaudreau tragedy and Dvorak is coming off a major injury and poor recent performance. Habs could then choose to not use LTIR if they wanted to accrue cap space (either to bolster their roster or take on cap dumps/broker deals at TDL). Dvorak needs to re-establish himself in the NHL both performance and recovery from injury-wise and MTL has plenty of NHL-ready forwards. If he does then CBJ could recoup some assets at TDL and move him with retention to a contender (hence why Dvorak might waive NTC). CBJ has used 0 of their 3 spots; while MTL has used 2 already and might need the 3rd for Josh Anderson or David Savard.

Barrett Hayton - C - Utah - $2,650,000 x 2 (RFA) his AAV would plug the gap almost perfectly to hit the cap floor (just need to do some AHL paper-moves/callups with Malatesta over Fix-Wolansky or Knazko/Berni over Christiansen). Hayton would be more costly but has higher potential and he might have lost his spot to McBain if he doesn't blow him out during training camp. Utah actually has "too many" NHL forwards with guys like Carcone/O'Brien being pushed out by Doan. If Cooley takes the 1C job and McBain the 2C role and Doan makes the team then Hayton is a trade candidate.

Brandon Tanev - LW - Seattle - $3,500,000 x 1. His AAV gets them over the floor and he would slot in on 3rd line LW allowing Kent Johnson to fill the 1LW role. Again, he would be a guy they use until the TDL and flip for more assets with possible retention.

Brandon Tanev would be a good add for leadership and some games on the 4th line, but he's very beat up at this point. I watched him last year in Seattle a lot and the wheels are coming off. I'd be happy to see them add him, but it's for a minor role.

The Jackets actually have a lot of centers now - Monahan, Voronkov, Jenner, and Kuraly are all solid centers while Sillinger and Fantilli are learning the ropes there. Hayton as yet another young guy trying to find his fit might struggle.

Dvorak's cap hit is really big for his level of play, it's not clear what line, if any, he can play on. That is very much a situation where the question is what the Habs are willing to pay to move him. And given where they're at, it seems very likely he just stays a Hab.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

Ah yes, it's important for Columbus to protect itself from GM's who may wish to take advantage of this horrible tragedy.

That is not what I am suggesting. I've gone far as to suggest that perhaps Washington or Utah will give Columbus a Weber or Backstrom type contract as a favour.

There is a difference between Washington extortion CBJ with we want a 2nd round pick because we know taking Backstrom helps you a lot, because we know they would never get a team to give them that before this tragedy, and another team being soft on whatever the sweetener is to take an overpaid active player, because they know CBJ needs to reach the cap floor - or in season needs a buffer. For example, if Edmonton still had Ceci and the sweetener was a 4th instead of the 3rd they gave up, that's not the same as outright extortion. It's just the market softening and CBJ not having the leverage to say no.

There is also the factor that it could be something as simple as CBJ sells off a player and is forced to retain or take back a bad contract that they otherwise would not have taken back, just to stay above the cap floor while selling the player off. So the argument against taking a Weber or Backstrom type contract is that CBJ may not want to pay money for an inactive player, but throughout the season it likely will simplify their trade operations, and save them from having to pay even more to take money back in trades. Ultimately, it gives them more flexibility to make the best deals possible in season.

It's super easy to understand. With Weber or Backstrom they buy a 10M cap cushion for what might be six figures in real dollars (insurance), and that puts them in a position to make trades because they are the best trades for them, and not because their cap situation dictates what they can or cant do structure wise in a trade.

 

[SteelCityCannon]

I don't think they'll be picking up a ghost contract. DW wants a player that will fill the holes in the lineup.

 

[JohnLennon]

With Gaudreau's death, the Jackets are taking a step back now. They have a bevy of young forwards who would benefit from offensive deployment and PP time. Marchenko, Chinakhov, Voronkov, Fantilli, Kent Johnson. It makes more sense to add a checker and leader like Okposo and have the kids take care of the offense.

I just think, as Buffalo has shown us for the better part of a decade, that too much youth with no veteran support can lead to less than stellar results and poor development. I think you need to insulate those lineups with veterans who can contribute in multiple ways. So yes I would agree with Okposo but also having a scoring veteran on the same line as your star prospect could pay dividends as well.

The forwards they currently have could barely crack 40 points last year, and that was with a star player like Gaudreau on the squad.

 

[HockeyScotty]

I think it would be smart of them to sign a veteran with tons of character and who can score goals. I'm thinking James van Riemsdyk would be a very smart addition for this team. Put him on the second line with Adam Fantilli.

I'd actually be surprised if they weren't one of the top teams pursuing him.

For sure this is a good option if JVR is open to it.

Brandon Tanev would be a good add for leadership and some games on the 4th line, but he's very beat up at this point. I watched him last year in Seattle a lot and the wheels are coming off. I'd be happy to see them add him, but it's for a minor role.

The Jackets actually have a lot of centers now - Monahan, Voronkov, Jenner, and Kuraly are all solid centers while Sillinger and Fantilli are learning the ropes there. Hayton as yet another young guy trying to find his fit might struggle.

Dvorak's cap hit is really big for his level of play, it's not clear what line, if any, he can play on. That is very much a situation where the question is what the Habs are willing to pay to move him. And given where they're at, it seems very likely he just stays a Hab.

That was why I think it gets done really cheaply. Montreal has 1 more retention spot this year and 2-3 players to possibly move at TDL. Savard/Dvorak being on 1 year deals; and then Anderson.

Savard would command a really hefty return if it was 50% retained; leaving Dvorak at full cap hit and therefore less value at TDL. If they move him now CBJ can reach the floor and then flip him at the deadline.

If he doesn't re-establish his value no big loss for CBJ and his contract is gone in the off-season.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

They could just take Armia - decent NHL body and only 1 year left on his contract so he could be traded at the deadline

Played the past 2 seasons with Monahan too

 

[Vector]

I believe we wouldn't put them on LTIR, they would be in the active line up and need to be scratched every game for the cap hit to register. Or maybe regular IR still has the cap hit apply?

IR opens a roster spot but the cap hit remains. So the Blue Jackets could extract a draft pick/prospect while taking on a player with 2-3m contract without it really affecting anything.

 

[CDN24]

IR opens a roster spot but the cap hit remains. So the Blue Jackets could extract a draft pick/prospect while taking on a player with 2-3m contract without it really affecting anything.

Ideally an insured contract so minimal cash cost too