NHL trade rumors: Anaheim Ducks willing to take on bad contracts for assets
The Anaheim Ducks have a ton of cap space. And according to the latest NHL trade rumors, they could weaponize that cap space at the trade deadline.
The Anaheim Ducks are expected to be sellers at the 2020 NHL trade deadline. They have a 17-24-5 record, which is the worst record in the Western Conference. The Ducks have won just nine times since the start of November. Furthermore, since Nov. 1, there have been more coaches fired (7) than Ducks wins in regulation (5). According to the latest NHL trade rumors, they’re willing to use their cap space as an asset.
This report comes from Elliotte Friedman in Sportsnet’s latest Headlines segment.
For the first time in a while, Anaheim has some flexibility. They’ve always been a budget team, but they are projected to have over $10 million in cap space by the trade deadline. This could allow them to act as a third party in trades, taking on sub-optimal contracts to facilitate trades.
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However, it will cost teams, as Friedman points out. The Ducks want young, controllable assets if teams want them to take on contracts to help the finances of a trade work out.
My Take
Only time will tell if the famously cheap Ducks will be willing to do this, but if they are, I really like it. Anything can be an asset, including cap space. It’s all about how you utilize it.
The Ducks have something that a lot of teams don’t have right now – cap space. Contenders are going to be looking to make moves to get the potential missing pieces of their Stanley Cup puzzle. Most contenders don’t have much cap space.
Of the 16 teams that are currently in the playoffs, only four of them (Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets) currently have more than $5 million of cap space. Keep in mind the Leafs are using LTIR relief and the Jets still have to figure out what’s going on with Dustin Byfuglien.
If contenders want to make moves, they’re probably going to need to get a bit creative. We’ve seen teams take on part of a contract to help facilitate a trade. For example, back in 2018, the Vegas Golden Knights traded for Derrick Brassard, only to flip him to the Pittsburgh Penguins while retaining salary.
It’s going to be interesting to see how teams make trades work when so many contenders have minimal cap space. Even retaining 50% of a contract’s cap hit might not be enough. A third team could have to get involved by either retaining cap hits or taking on a contract.
Our friends out west at Pucks Of A Feather did a terrific job providing examples of trades the Ducks could make using this strategy. However, I’ll give you one of mine.
Let’s say the Vegas Golden Knights want to trade for defenseman Brenden Dillon of the San Jose Sharks. Right now, Vegas has a shade over $582,000 of deadline cap space. Dillon’s cap hit is $3.27 million. 50% of Dillon’s cap it is $1.635 million. The Golden Knights couldn’t afford that. Even if the Sharks traded Dillon to another team with 50% retained cap hit and that team traded him to the Golden Knights after retaining another 50% of that retained cap hit, they couldn’t afford it.
However, they could afford it if the Ducks are willing to take on a bad contract like Ryan Reaves or Cody Eakin. And it’s likely the Knights would be willing to compensate the Ducks for facilitating that deal.
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I think the Ducks should be very open to weaponizing their cap space, especially with deals that expire after this season or even next season. Their rebuild could be a bit painful, but if they play their cards right, they could expedite it by getting some assets for taking on a bad contract or two.