This is what we should have expected when the cap only increased by a million. The NHL Free Agency Frenzy was hamstrung pretty heavily by the small increase of a million dollars to the cap, forcing most teams to only dish out on cheap, short-term deals on players that would normally be worth far more.
I hope next year’s market explodes with the predicted salary cap increase as this market was very lame.
Due to a small $1M increase to the league-wide salary cap, most teams could only afford short, “prove-it” contracts for the biggest names in free agency as dozens of proven NHL veterans were forced to settle with 1-2-year, $1M-$3M deals in spite of their season totals. And, as you probably could have guessed, these cap restrictions made for an extremely boring Free Agent Frenzy.
Now, if you read my article about the 2023 NBA Free Agent market, you would know that I love when teams splash the cash and make huge, ludicrous signings for all manner of players, whether they be superstars, valuable contributors, veterans, undrafted players, or journeymen. Moreover, you would also know that I think slow, tame, and relatively mild signing periods make for some of the worst free agent periods imaginable.
Thus, it should come as no surprise to you that I found this NHL Free Agent Frenzy to be the most boring I can remember. Yet, I’m actually not going to blame players, teams, or executives for the lack of excitement and cash splashing as the lack of meaningful cap increases over the last three years have completely destroyed the salary plans, procedures, and ambitious most teams usually bring into the free agent markets.
Unlike the NFL and the NBA, two salary systems most similar to the NHL’s, which both have grown by at least $3M each season (and the usual being $11M+) since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the NHL has not seen a salary cap increase of over $1M since the 2018-19 offseason…which happened prior to the pandemic. So, in other words, the league’s financial position has been in poor straits for the last five years, and now the players are bearing the full brunt of the cap crunch.
As of today, the average term and salary given to a player in free agency has been a 1.6-year contract and an average annual salary of just $2M which is about $300k more than what Vinny Lecavalier made last season from his contract buyout by the Lightning…dating all the way back to 2013.
Yes, the average salary of a 2023 free agent player was only $300k more than what Vinny Lecavalier, who retired back in 2016 and was drafted in last millennium, made last season due to the Lightning buying out his enormous 11-year, $85M deal before its expiration date.
Nevertheless, I know a lot of cap nerds (such as myself) are going to point out that average annual contract for the last three seasons, which includes the COVID-19 pandemic free agent market, has been around $2.22M, so the 200k decrease doesn’t seem too bad, right?
WRONG!
Sure, the average annual salaries might not be too distinct, but the net spend of all teams is the lowest the NHL has seen since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. By a COUNTRY MILE.
Going in chronological order, the net spend of all teams in the 2020 offseason was $973M, in 2021 was $773M, in 2022 was $766M, and this year…only $515M. That’s a near-$400M drop from 2020 to 2023, which is not a great look Gary Bettman or the financial standing of the NHL.
Of course, it is still very early in the summer window and big names like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex DeBrincat, Matt Dumba, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Bertuzzi, Alexis Lafrenière, David Krejci, and Vince Dunn remain on the open market, but I don’t know if the net contract additions of these players will skyrocket the total tally much beyond $750M. If it even reaches that figure.
Truthfully, a lot of the guys left, such as Bergeron, Toews, Kane, Tarasenko, Krejci, and Alexis Lafrenière, will be looking for 1-year contracts due to age and/or mediocre performances last season, while the vast majority of other guys will be given “prove-it” contracts for spots on NHL rosters. That’s not going to make a huge dent in the total salary spend if they’re only getting 1-year deals.
I mean, the highest earning contract right now is Ryan Graves’ 6-year, $27M deal the Pittsburgh Penguins gave him earlier yesterday. And, if a guy like Graves, who is a Top-4 defenseman at best, is the highest earning free agent of the class so far, what does that say about the class and the money these teams have left to spend.
I really hope the NHL salary cap goes up $5M-$8M at least next season or else I don’t see how the league will be able to grow if players are getting paid peanuts and teams are handicapped into restrictive salary cap situations.
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