NHL Free Agency: Where does your team stand within the Salary Cap?

The Stanley Cup at the UCLA Hall of Fame (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/Andrew D. Bernstein Associates Photography, Inc. for AEG via Getty Images)
The Stanley Cup at the UCLA Hall of Fame (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/Andrew D. Bernstein Associates Photography, Inc. for AEG via Getty Images)
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Anaheim Ducks (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Anaheim Ducks (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

The NHL offseason is nearly here. Where does each team currently stand as NHL free agency draws near?

As the NHL offseason kicks off into high gear starting on Oct. 9, which is the start of NHL free agency, teams will start shaping their rosters. This will be a uniquely short offseason, so expect moves to happen quickly. As teams look to improve their rosters, it is important to see where your team stands in relationship to the salary cap and why some transactions will have to be made.

Expiring contracts will be valuable trade chips. Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) can sign with any team after October 9th. Teams can match offers to their Restricted Free Agents (RFA) but many will need to clear space to sign them or match an offer. Any player with a No Trade Clause (NTC) or No Movement Clause (NMC) will be harder to trade because teams will need permission from the player to approve the trade, hindering leverage.

Unfortunately, with the lost revenue in the 2019-2020 season due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the salary cap will stay at $81.5 million. It will be a challenge for most teams to shape their roster moving forward.

Here is a quick team by team breakdown in alphabetical order of where NHL teams stand in relationship to the salary cap heading into the 2020-2021 season. All contract data is courtesy of CapFriendly.

ANAHEIM DUCKS

Cap space: $470,001

Forwards

Ryan Getzlaf – $8.25 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2021

David Backes – $4.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Danton Heinen – $2.80 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Max Jones – $863,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Sam Steel – $863,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Rickard Rakell – $3.79 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Sonny Milano – $1.70 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Adam Henrique – $5.83 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Jakob Silfverberg – $5.25 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Troy Terry – $1.45 million cap hit, RFA 2023

Carter Rowney – $1.13 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Nicolas Deslauriers – $1 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Defensemen

Erik Gudbranson- $4 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Hampus Lindholm – $5.21 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Josh Manson – $4.10 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Cam Fowler – $6.50 million cap hit, NTC,

Jacob Larsson – $1.2 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Kodie Curran – $1 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Christian Djoos – $1 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Goaltenders

John Gibson – $6.40 million cap hit, UFA 2027

LTIR

Ryan Kesler – $6.875 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Buyouts

Corey Perry – $6.63 million against the cap for 2020-21 season, $2 million against cap per year in 2021-22 and 2022-23

2020-2021 Draft Outlook

Ducks have 2 selections in the first round at #6 and #27 overall. Anaheim has one pick in each of the second through sixth rounds.

Anaheim Ducks summary

The Ducks are in good shape cap wise in the future. Not too many bad, long term contracts. Anaheim will need to clear space if they want to make improvements for the 2020-21 season as they are already close to the $81.5 million salary cap threshold.

Brad Richardson #15 of the Arizona Coyotes (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Brad Richardson #15 of the Arizona Coyotes (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

ARIZONA COYOTES

Cap space: $3,632,765

Notable Free Agents

  • Taylor Hall (UFA)
  • Brad Richardson (UFA)
  • Carl Soderberg (UFA)
  • Christian Fischer (RFA)
  • Vinnie Hinostroza (RFA)
  • Ilya Lyubushkin (RFA)

Forwards

Derek Stepan – $6.5 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Conor Garland – $775,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Phil Kessel – $6.8 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Barrett Hayton – $894,167 cap hit, RFA 2022

Clayton Keller – $7.15 million cap hit UFA 2028

Nick Schmaltz – $5.85 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Christian Dvorak – $4.45 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Defensemen

Alex Goligoski – $5.475 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Niklas Hjalmarsson – $5 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2021

Jason Demers – $3.9375 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – $8.25 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Jakob Chychrun – $4.6 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Jordan Oesterle – $1.4 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Goaltenders

Antti Raanta – $4.25 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Darcy Keumper- $4.50 million cap hit, UFA 2022

LTIR

Marian Hossa – $5.275 million, UFA 2021

Buyouts

Michael Grabner

  • 2020-21 season: $2,516,667 savings, $833,333 cap hit
  • 2021-22 season: -$1,258,333 savings, $1,258,333 cap hit

2020-2021 Draft Outlook

Coyotes have 0 selections in the first three rounds of the draft. Arizona has one pick in each of the 4th through 7th rounds.

Arizona Coyotes summary

New Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong will have a tough task ahead of him while shaping this roster for a competitive future. Although Hossa’s money doesn’t count against the cap and only paying partial salaries for Kessel and Demers, Arizona does not have a lot of room to work with their long term contracts.

After the 2020-21 season, Arizona does have a lot of money coming off the books to work with short term. Due to the tampering scandal, they do not own a pick in the first three rounds of next year’s draft also. It will be very interesting to see what moves will be made to shape the roster.

Boston Bruins (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Boston Bruins (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

BOSTON BRUINS

Cap space: $14,430,964

Notable Free Agents

  • Zdeno Chara (UFA)
  • Torey Krug (UFA)
  • Matt Grzelcyk (RFA)
  • Jake DeBrusk (UFA)
  • Kevan Miller (UFA)

Forwards

David Krejci – $7.25 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Ondrej Kase – $2.6 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Nick Ritchie – $1.498925 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Sean Kuraly – $1.275 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Patrice Bergeron – $6.875 million cap hit, NTC, NMC, UFA 2022

David Pastrnak – $6.666666 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Brad Marchand – $6.125 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Charlie Coyle – $5.25 million cap hit, NTC, NMC, UFA 2026

Defensemen

Brandon Carlo – $2.85 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Charlie McAvoy- $4.90 million cap hit, RFA 2022

John Moore – $2.75 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Connor Clifton – $1 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Jérémy Lauzon – $850,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Goaltenders

Tuukka Rask – $7.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Jaroslav Halak – $2.25 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Retained Salary

David Backes – $1.5 million for 2020-21 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Boston does not have a draft selection in the First and Fourth Rounds. They have one pick in the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Rounds

Boston Bruins summary

The Bruins are an older club that is in transition. The reigning President Trophy winners are in win now mode and will look to get creative in signing at least some of their impending free agents. Look for them to continue being busy this offseason through signings and trades to take advantage of their closing championship window.

Jack Eichel #9 of the Buffalo Sabres (Photo by Nicholas T. LoVerde/Getty Images)
Jack Eichel #9 of the Buffalo Sabres (Photo by Nicholas T. LoVerde/Getty Images) /

BUFFALO SABRES

Cap space: $33,658,333

Notable Free Agents

  • Victor Olofsson (RFA)
  • Sam Reinhart (RFA)
  • Dominik Kahun (RFA)
  • Tage Thompson (RFA)
  • Vladimar Sobotka (UFA)
  • Jimmy Vesey (UFA)
  • Wayne Simmonds (UFA)
  • Brandon Montour (RFA)
  • Linus Ullman (RFA)

Forwards

Eric Staal – $3.25 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Jack Eichel – $10 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Jeff Skinner – $9 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Kyle Okposo – $6 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Curtis Lazar – $800,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Defensemen

Jake McCabe – $2.85 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Rasmus Dahlin – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Henri Jokiharju – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Rasmus Ristolainen – $5.40 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Colin Miller – $3.875 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Goaltenders

Carter Hutton – $2.75 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Buyouts

Cody Hodgson – $792,000 for the next 3 seasons.

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Buffalo owns the eighth overall selection in the first round of the draft. Sabres have one pick in the second, fourth, and fifth rounds, and two in the seventh round.

Buffalo Sabres summary

The canvas is mostly blank for general manager Kevyn Adams to shape this roster for next season and beyond. The Sabres have a lot of money to work with and only a few long term deals, although the Skinner and Okposo deals might hamper them on the back end. They will be busy filling out their roster and looking to create a bright future for the organization.

Head coach Geoff Ward of the Calgary Flames (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Head coach Geoff Ward of the Calgary Flames (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

CALGARY FLAMES

Cap space: $16,910,834

Notable Free Agents

  • Andrew Mangiapane RFA
  • Tobias Rieder UFA
  • Mark Jankowski UFA
  • Travis Hamonic UFA
  • TJ Brodie UFA
  • Derek Forbort UFA
  • Erik Gustafsson UFA
  • Cam Talbot UFA

Forwards

Derek Ryan – $3.125 cap hit, UFA 2021

Sam Bennett – $2.55 cap hit, RFA 2021

Matthew Tkachuk – $7 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Johnny Gaudreau – $6.75 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Sean Monahan – $6.375 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Mikael Backlund – $5.35 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Elias Lindholm – $4.85 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Milan Lucic – $5.25 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Juuso Valimaki – $894,166 cap hit, RFA 2021

Mark Giordano – $6.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Noah Hanifan – $4.95 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Rasmus Andersson – $4.55 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Goaltenders

David Rittich – $2.75 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Buyouts

Troy Brouwer – $1.5 million per year for the next 2 seasons

Michael Stone – $1.17 million per year for the 2020-2021 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Calgary owns the 19th overall selection in the first round. Flames have one draft selection in each of the seven rounds.

Calgary Flames summary

The Flames have a lot of contracts with term. Unless the Flames make some trades, the forward corp is solidified for years to come and they will look to improve on defense and goaltending in the 2020-2021 and beyond. Calgary is in a solid position to retain some of their free agents while making other moves to improve the roster.

Andrei Svechnikov #37 of the Carolina Hurricanes (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Andrei Svechnikov #37 of the Carolina Hurricanes (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Cap space: $7,782,261

Notable Free Agents

  • Justin Williams UFA
  • Warren Foegele RFA
  • Sami Vatanen UFA
  • Trevor van Riemsdyk UFA

Forward

Andrei Svechnikov – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Ryan Dzingel – $3.375 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Brock McGinnis- $2.10 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Jordan Martinook – $2 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Nino Niederreiter – $5.25 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Vincent Trocheck – $4.75 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Martin Necas – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2022

Sebastian Aho – $8.454 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Teuvo Teravainen – $5.40 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Jordan Staal – $6 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Dougie Hamilton – $5.75 million, UFA 2021

Jaccob Slavin – $5.30 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Brady Skjei – $5.25 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Brett Pesce – $4.025 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Jake Gardiner – $4.05 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Goaltenders

Petr Mrazek – $3.125 million cap hit, UFA 2021

James Reimer – $3.40 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Buyout situation

Alexander Semin – $2.33 million for the 2020-2021 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Carolina owns the 13th overall selection in the 2020 Draft. Hurricanes have two selections in the Second Round and one in each of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Rounds. Carolina also has two selections in the Seventh Round.

Carolina Hurricanes summary

Carolina is close to the 81.5 million threshold and will need to get creative to make more room under the salary cap. Especially with Svechnikov and Hamilton playing on the final year of their deals and a gapping hole to fill at the goaltending position.

Chicago Blackhawks (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Chicago Blackhawks (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Cap space: $7,830,461

Notable Free Agents

  • Cory Crawford UFA
  • Dominik Kubalik RFA
  • Dylan Strome RFA
  • Slater Koekkoek RFA
  • Malcolm Subban RFA
  • Drake Caggiula RFA

Forwards

Brandon Saad – $6.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Zack Smith – $3.25 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Alexander Nylander – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2021

Kirby Dach – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Adam Boqvist – $894,167 cap hit, RFA 2022

Andrew Shaw – $3.90 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Patrick Kane – $10.5 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Jonathan Toews – $10.5 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Alex DeBrincat – $6.40 million cap hit, RFA 2023

Defensemen

Calvin De Haan – $4.55 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Olli Maatta – $4.083333 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Connor Murphy – $3.85 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Duncan Keith – $5.538462 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Brent Seabrook – $6.875 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2024

Goaltenders

Collin Delia – $1 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Chicago owns the 17th overall selection in the First Round. Blackhawks have one selection in the Second Round, two selections in the Third Round, and one in each of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Rounds.

Chicago Blackhawks summary

The Chicago Blackhawks have been hindered by the salary cap for many years now and that looks to be the same outlook for the next few seasons. If Seabrook and Shaw stay on injured reserve, that would help the Blackhawks tremendously. If not, it might be time to move one of the stalwart, high salary superstars and create more flexibility to fill out the roster.

Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

COLORADO AVALANCHE

Cap space: $22,364,405

Notable Free Agents

  • Andre Burakovsky RFA
  • Vladislav Namestnikov UFA
  • Valeri Nichushkin RFA
  • Matt Nieto UFA
  • Tyson Jost RFA
  • Ryan Graves RFA
  • Nikita Zadorov RFA
  • Colin Wilson UFA
  • Kevin Connauton UFA
  • Michael Hutchinson UFA

Forwards

Gabriel Landeskog $5.571429 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Matt Calvert $2.85 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Nazem Kadri – $4.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Mikko Rantanen – $9.25 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Nathan MacKinnon – $6.30 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Joonas Donskoi – $3.90 million cap hit, UFA 2023

J.T. Compher – $3.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Cale Makar – $880,883 cap hit, RFA 2021

Ian Cole – $4.25 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Samuel Girard – $5.00 million cap hit, UFA 2027

Erik Johnson – $6 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Goaltenders

Philipp Grubauer $3.333333 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Pavel Francouz – $2.00 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Avalanche own the 24th pick in the First Round. Colorado has one selection in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Rounds.

Colorado Avalanche summary

Currently one of the elite teams in the NHL, GM Joe Sakic has done amazing job with contracts and getting maximum value for term of contracts. The Avalanche have no dead money or long contracts that hinder the future. As they tweak the roster and solidify goaltending, they have a lot of options to work with for the 2020-2021 season and beyond.

Eric Robinson #50 of the Columbus Blue Jackets (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Eric Robinson #50 of the Columbus Blue Jackets (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Cap space: $7,025,000

Notable Free Agents

  • Pierre-Luc Dubois RFA
  • Josh Anderson RFA
  • Devin Shore RFA
  • Kevin Stenlund RFA
  • Vladislav Gavrikov RFA
  • Gabriel Carlsson RFA

Forwards

Brandon Dubinsky – $5.85 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2021

Nick Foligno – $5.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2021

Riley Nash – $2.75 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Oliver Bjorkstrand – $2.50 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Boone Jenner – $3.75 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Cam Atkinson – $5.875 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Gustav Nyquist – $5.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Alexander Wennberg – $4.90 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Ryan Murray – $4.60 million cap hit, UFA 2021

David Savard – $4.25 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Andrew Peeke – $916,667 cap hit, RFA 2021

Seth Jones – $5.40 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Zach Werenski – $5.00 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Markus Nutivaara – $2.70 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Scott Harrington – $1.633333 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Goaltenders

Elvis Merzlikins – $4.00 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Joonas Korpisalo – $2.80 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Buyouts:

Scott Hartnell – 1.25 million for the 2020-2021 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Columbus owns the 21st selection in the First Round. Blue Jackets do not own a Second and Third Round selection and one selection in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Rounds.

Columbus Blue Jackets summary

Columbus will need to move some pieces to retain their RFAs. Brandon Dubinsky is expected to land on long term injured reserve, which would free up some cap space there. Columbus will make moves to enhance the roster but don’t look for them to make big signings on the free agent market unless they clear current contracts.

Dallas Stars (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Dallas Stars (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

DALLAS STARS

Cap space: $13,991,302

Notable Free Agents

  • Corey Perry UFA
  • Radek Faksa RFA
  • Roope Hintz RFA
  • Denis Gurianov RFA
  • Andrej Sekera UFA
  • Anton Khudobin UFA
  • Mattias Janmark UFA

Forwards

Joel Kiviranta – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Andrew Cogliano – $3.25 million NTC, UFA 2021

Blake Comeau $2.40 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Jason Dickinson $1.5 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Joe Pavelski – $7.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Alexander Radulov – $6.25 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Tyler Seguin – $9.85 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Jamie Benn – $9.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Defensemen

Miro Heiskanen $894,166 cap hit, RFA 2021

Stephen Johns $2.35 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Jamie Oleksiak $2.1375 million cap hit, UFA 2021

John Klingberg – $4.25 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Esa Lindell – $5.80 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Andrej Sekera – $1.5 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Goaltenders

Ben Bishop – $4.916666 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Buyouts

Valeri Nichushkin – $450,000 for the 2020-2021 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Dallas owns the 30th selection in the First Round. Stars do not own a selection in the Second or Third Rounds. Dallas has one selection in the Fourth and Fifth Rounds and two selections in the Sixth Round.

Dallas Stars summary

The Western Conference Champions are in a great position to re-sign their RFAs. They will need to make a decision with goaltending and strengthen their roster around their long term contracts. After 2020-21, they will need to pay Heiskanen a hefty contract so definitely will need to leave room for that going into the 2021-22 season.

Detroit Red Wings (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Detroit Red Wings (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

DETROIT RED WINGS

Cap space: $25,766,667

Notable Free Agents

  • Adam Erne RFA
  • Tyler Bertuzzi RFA
  • Anthony Mantha RFA
  • Brendan Perlini RFA
  • Trevor Daley UFA
  • Madison Bowey RFA
  • Jimmy Howard UFA

Forwards

Darren Helm – $3.85 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Valtteri Filppula – $3.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Luke Glendening – $1.80 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Sam Gagner – $850,000 cap hit, UFA 2021

Frans Nielsen – $5.25 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Robby Fabbri – $2.95 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Dylan Larkin – $6.10 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Justin Abdelkader – $4.25 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Marc Staal – $5.70 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Patrik Nemeth – $3.00 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Danny DeKeyser – $5.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Goaltenders

Jonathan Bernier – $3.00 million cap hit, UFA 2021

LTIR

Forward Henrik Zetterberg 6.08 million (currently on long term injury reserve)

Buyouts

Steven Weiss – 1.67 million for the 2020-2021 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Red Wings own the fourth overall selection in the first round. Detroit has three selections in the second round, two selections in the third round, and one selection in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. They have 10 draft picks total in this draft currently.

Detroit Red Wings summary

The canvas to shape the Detroit Red Wings for the 2020-21 season and beyond is completely blank essentially. GM Steve Yzerman will look to duplicate his success with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the same executive role.

Detroit has cap space, high draft selections this season and next season, no hideously long term contracts, and no dead money after 2020-21. There is a lot of work to be done and moves to be made but if Detroit has the resources to become elite again in three to five years if they can hit the right chords.

Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

EDMONTON OILERS

Cap space: $8,766,182

Notable Free Agents

  • Andreas Athanasiou RFA
  • Riley Sheahan UFA
  • Tyler Ennis UFA
  • Ethan Bear RFA
  • Mike Smith UFA

Forwards

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – $6.00 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Alex Chiasson – $2.15 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Jujhar Khaira – $1.20 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Kailer Yamamoto – $894,166 cap hit, RFA 2021

Josh Archibald – $1.50 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Connor McDavid – $12.50 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Leon Draisaitl – $8.50 million cap hit, UFA 2025

James Neal – $5.75 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Zack Kassian – $3.20 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Defensemen

Adam Larsson – $4.166666 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Kris Russell $4.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2021

Darnell Nurse – $5.60 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Oscar Klefbom – $4.167 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Caleb Jones – $850,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Goaltenders

Mikko Koskinen – $4.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Buyouts

Benoit Pouliot – $1.33 million for the 2020-21 season

Andrej Sekera – $2.50 million per year for the 2020-21 season and $1.50 million in each of the next two seasons

Retained Salary

Milan Lucic – $750,000 of retained salary for the next three seasons

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Edmonton owns the 14th pick in the first round. The Oilers do not have a selection in the second, third, or fourth rounds. Edmonton has one selection in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

Edmonton Oilers summary

The Oilers will actively try to trade and clear up cap space while filling other needs on the roster. This season will be especially challenging with $4.5 million of dead money to work around. Edmonton has two reigning League MVPs in McDavid and Draisaitl to build around.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Florida Panthers (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Florida Panthers (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Cap space: 21.74 million

Notable Free Agents

  • Evgeni Dadonov UFA
  • Mike Hoffman UFA
  • Erik Haula UFA
  • Brian Boyle UFA
  • Mark Pysyk UFA
  • MacKenzie Weegar RFA
  • Dryden Hunt RFA
  • Aleksi Saarela RFA
  • Lucas Wallmark RFA

Forwards

Aleksander Barkov – $5.90 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Frank Vatrano – $2.533333 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Noel Acciari – $1.666667 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Jonathan Huberdeau – $5.90 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Patric Hornqvist – $5.30 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Brett Connolly – $3.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Anton Stralman – $5.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Aaron Ekblad – $7.50 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Keith Yandle – $6.35 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Riley Stillman – $773,333 cap hit, RFA 2021

Goaltenders

Chris Driedger – $850,000 cap hit, UFA 2021

Sergei Bobrovsky – $10.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2026

Buyouts

Scott Darling – $2.33 million for the 2020-21 season, $1.83 million per year for the following 2 seasons

Retained Salary/Cap Recapture

Jason Demers – Retained Salary of $563,000 for 2020-21 season

Roberto Luongo – $1.09 million for the next two seasons

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Florida owns the 12th pick in the first round. Panthers have one selection in the second round, two selections in the third round and one selection in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds.

Florida Panthers summary

Florida is one of the few teams with a lot of cap space but many holes to fill while filling out the rest of the roster. With a large portion of the cap being used on goaltending and defense, they will need to move some for more flexibility moving forward.

Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

LOS ANGELES KINGS

Cap space: $16,953,940

Notable Free Agents

  • Trevor Lewis UFA
  • Nikolai Prokhorkin RFA
  • Ben Hutton UFA
  • Joakim Ryan UFA

Forwards

Alex Iafallo – $2.43 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Dustin Brown – $5.875 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Jeff Carter – $5.272727 cap hit, UFA 2022

Adrian Kempe – $2 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Gabriel Vilardi – $894,167 cap hit, RFA 2022

Martin Frk – $725,000 cap hit, UFA 2022

Blake Lizotte – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Trevor Moore – $775,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Michael Amadio – $700,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Anze Kopitar – $10.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Austin Wagner – $1.133333 million cap hit, RFA 2023

Defensemen

Drew Doughty – $11.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Sean Walker – $2.65 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Michael Anderson – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Kurtis MacDermid – $875,000 cap hit, UFA 2022

Matt Roy – $700,000 cap hit, UFA 2021

Goaltenders

Cal Petersen – $858,333 cap hit,

Jonathan Quick – $5.80 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Buyouts

Dion Phaneuf – $4.06 million for the 2020-21 season and $1.06 million per year for the following 2 seasons

Mike Richards – $700k in 2020-21, $900k for 2021-22 and 2022-23, $700k in 2023-24 and 2024-25, $600k in 2025-26 and 2026-27

Ilya Kovalchuk – $6.25 million for the 2020-21 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Kings have the second overall selection in the first round. Los Angeles has three selections in the second round, two selections in the third round, two selections in the fourth round, one selection in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. They have 11 picks total in this draft.

Los Angeles Kings summary

The Los Angeles Kings are set up for the future. 11 picks in this year’s draft and 10 picks in the 2021 draft on top of a deep prospect pool. They can spend towards next year but with $11 million in dead money for the 2020-21 season, they are one year away from spending big in free agency. All the high end talent on low entry level deals give them the time they need to make an impact in the not so distant future.

Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

MINNESOTA WILD

Cap space: $11,975,578

Notable Free Agents

  • Alex Galchenyuk UFA
  • Mikko Koivu UFA
  • Jordan Greenway RFA
  • Nico Sturm RFA
  • Luke Kunin RFA

Forwards

Marcus Johansson – $4.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Kevin Fiala – $3 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Marcus Foligno – $2.875 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Nick Bjugstad – $2.05 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Ryan Hartman – $1.90 million cap it, RFA 2021

Ryan Donato – $1.90 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Joel Eriksson Ek – $1.4875 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Kirill Kaprizov – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Forward Victor Rask – $4 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Forward Zach Parise – $7.538461 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Forward Mats Zuccarello – $6.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2024

Defensemen

Greg Pateryn – $2.25 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Brad Hunt – $700,000 cap hit, UFA 2021

Jared Spurgeon – $7.58 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Ryan Suter – $7.538461 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Matt Dumba – $6.00 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Jonas Brodin – $4.17 million cap hit for 2020-2

Goaltenders

Devan Dubnyk $4.33 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Alex Stalock – $785,000 cap hit, UFA 2022

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Minnesota has the 9th overall selection in the first round. The Wild have one selection in the second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

Minnesota Wild summary

The Wild have a lot of money tied into players nearing the tail end of their careers, which might hinder them down the road. Minnesota has a lot of money coming off the books this season which will help them with more flexibility next season.

Carey Price #31 and Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Carey Price #31 and Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Cap space: $10,202,024

Notable Free Agents

  • Max Domi RFA
  • Victor Mete RFA
  • Xavier Ouellet RFA
  • Charles Hudon RFA
  • Dale Weise UFA
  • Christian Folin UFA

Forwards

Tomas Tatar – $4.80 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Brendan Gallagher – $3.75 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Phillip Danault – $3.083333 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Joel Armia – $2.60 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Artturi Lehkonen – $2.40 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Jordan Weal – $1.40 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Jesperi Kotkaniemi – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Nick Suzuki – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2022

Jonathan Drouin – $5.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Paul Byron – $3.40 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Karl Alzner – $4.625 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Ben Chiarot – $3.50 million cap hit NTC, UFA 2022

Brett Kulak – $1.85 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Alexander Romanov – $894,167 cap hit, RFA 2022

Shea Weber – $7.86 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Jeff Petry – $5.50 million cap hit in 2020-21

Joel Edmundson – $3.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Goaltenders

Carey Price $10.5 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2026

Jake Allen $4.35 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Canadiens have the 16th overall selection in the first round. Montreal has three selections in the second round, one in the third round, three in the fourth round, and one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

Montreal Canadiens summary

The Canadiens are set up for the future with 11 draft picks in 2020 Draft and 11 in the 2021 draft. After the 2020 season, they will have a lot of cap flexibility to keep their free agents and shop the free agency market. If GM Marc Bergevin pushes the right buttons, the Canadiens can be back in contention sooner than later.

Nashville Predators (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Nashville Predators (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Cap space: $8,192,190

Notable Free Agents

  • Craig Smith UFA
  • Mikael Grunland UFA
  • Yannick Weber UFA
  • Colin Blackwell UFA

Forwards

Nick Bonino – $4.10 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Filip Forsberg – $6.00 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Rocco Grimaldi – $2.00 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Calle Jarnkrok – $2.00 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Matt Duchene – $8.00 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Ryan Johansen – $8.00 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Kyle Turris – $6.00 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Victor Arvidsson – $4.25 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Colton Sissons – $2.86 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Austin Watson – $1.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Steven Santini – $1.416667 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Dante Fabbro – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Mattias Ekholm – $3.75 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Roman Josi – $9.059 million cap hit, NMC UFA 2028

Ryan Ellis – $6.25 million cap hit, UFA 2027

Goaltenders

Pekka Rinne – $5.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2021

Juuse Saros – $1.50 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Nashville has the 11th overall pick in the first round. The Predators have two selections in the second round, two selections in the third round, and one selection in the fifth and sixth rounds.

Nashville Predators summary

The Predators are set up with a lot of long term contracts for cornerstone players. They can tweak and make trades (only Josi and Rinne have no movement clauses) but what you see is what you get. Perfect trade partners and that is the avenue they will most likely explore most to improve the roster.

Nico Hischier #13 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Nico Hischier #13 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Cap space: $26,245,001

Notable Free Agents

  • Jesper Bratt RFA
  • Mackenzie Blackwood RFA
  • Kevin Rooney UFA
  • Joseph Anderson RFA
  • John Hayden RFA
  • Frederik Claesson UFA
  • Mirco Mueller RFA
  • Dakota Mermis UFA

Forwards

Travis Zajac – $5.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Kyle Palmeri – $4.65 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Nikita Gusev – $4.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Michael Mcleod – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2021

Miles Wood – $2.75 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Pavel Zacha – $2.25 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Jack Hughes – $925k cap hit, RFA 2022

Nico Hischier – 7.25 million cap hit, UFA 2027

Defensemen

Connor Carrick – $1.50 million cap hit, UFA 2021

P.K. Subban – $9.00 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Will Butcher – $3.733333 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Damon Severson – $4.166666 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Goaltenders

Cory Schneider – $6.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Buyouts

Mike Cammalleri – $1.67 million per year for the 2020-21 season

Ilya Kovalchuk – $250,000 per year for the next five seasons

2020-21 Draft Outlook

New Jersey has the 7th, 18th and 20th selections in the first round. The Devils have one selection in the third round, two selections in the fourth round, and one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

New Jersey Devils summary

The Devils are rebuilding and have many options to improve the roster. New Jersey has draft picks they can select and groom while gaining a lot of cap space over the next two seasons to re-sign their own RFAs and make splashes in free agency. With the right moves, the Devils can be back on top of the Metropolitan Division in three years.

New York Islanders (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
New York Islanders (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Cap space: $8,905,833

Notable Free Agents

  • Mathew Barzal RFA
  • Matt Martin UFA
  • Derick Brassard UFA
  • Ryan Pulock RFA
  • Devon Toews RFA
  • Andy Greene UFA
  • Thomas Greiss UFA

Forwards

Casey Cizikas – $3.35 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Anthony Beauvillier – $2.10 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Michael Dal Colle – $700,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Cal Clutterbuck – $3.50 million cap space, UFA 2022

Leo Komarov – $3.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Anders Lee – $7.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2026

Brock Nelson – $6.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Jordan Eberle – $5.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Andrew Ladd – $5.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Josh Bailey – $5.00 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Jean-Gabriel Pageau – $5 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2026

Defensemen

Adam Pelech – $1.60 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Johnny Boychuk – $6.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Nick Leddy – $5.50 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Thomas Hickey – $2.50 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Noah Dobson – $894,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Scott Mayfield – $1.45 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Goaltenders

Ilya Sorokin – $2 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Semyon Varlamov – $5.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Islanders do not own a first or second round selection. New York has one pick in each of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

New York Islanders summary

The Eastern Conference finalists have set their franchise up for success for years to come. New York will need to create cap space to re-sign their RFAs and UFAs, especially without draft picks in the higher rounds this upcoming draft. Ladd seems to be the odd man out and a potential buyout to create space, along with other crafty trades to create cap space.

Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

NEW YORK RANGERS

Cap space: $23,091,867

Notable Free Agents

  • Ryan Strome RFA
  • Brendan Lemieux RFA
  • Jesper Fast UFA
  • Anthony Deangelo RFA
  • Alexandar Georgiev RFA
  • Phillip Di Giuseppe RFA
  • Greg McKegg UFA
  • Michael Haley UFA

Forwards

Pavel Buchnevich – $3.25 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Filip Chytil – $894,166 cap hit, RFA 2021

Julien Gauthier – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2021

Brett Howden – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2021

Mika Zibanejad – $5.35 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Kaapo Kakko – $925k cap hit, RFA 2022

Artemi Panarin – $11.6 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2026

Chris Kreider – $6.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Defensemen

Brendan Smith – $4.35 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Ryan Lindgren – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Adam Fox – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Jacob Trouba – $8.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2026

Goaltenders

Igor Shesterkin – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Buyouts

  • Kevin Shattenkirk – $6.08 million for the 2020-21 season, $1.4 million in each of the next 2 seasons
  • Henrik Lundqvist- $5.50 million for the 2020-21 season, $1.5 million for the 2021-22 season
  • Ryan Spooner – $300,000 cap hit for the 2020-21 season
  • Dan Girardi – $1.11 million cap hit in each of the next 3 seasons

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Rangers own the 1st and 22nd selections in the first round. New York owns two picks in the third found, one pick in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds, and three picks in the seventh round.

New York Rangers summary

The Rangers have created enough cap space to sign their impending RFAs and UFAs while filling out the rest of the roster. After the 2020-21 season, they will have a lot of money coming off the book so they are one year away from swimming back to the top of the Metropolitan Division.

With $12 million in dead money this upcoming season, New York is biting the bullet now to lock up their core players in the future while possibly making one big free agent signing this season.

OTTAWA SENATORS

Cap space: $43,262,500

Notable Free Agents

  • Chris Tierney RFA
  • Connor Brown RFA
  • Anthony Duclair RFA
  • Ron Hainsey UFA
  • Mark Borowiecki UFA
  • Jayce Hawryluk RFA
  • Andreas Englund RFA
  • Craig Anderson UFA
  • Josh Brown RFA
  • Rūdolfs Balcers RFA
  • Nicholas Paul RFA
  • Christian Wolanin RFA

Forwards

Artem Anisimov – $4.55 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Brady Tkachuk – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Colin White – $4.75 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Defensemen

Mike Reilly – $1.50 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Thomas Chabot – $8.00 million cap hit, UFA 2028

Nikita Zaitsev – $4.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Goaltenders

Anders Nilsson – $2.60 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Marcus Hogberg – $700,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

LTIR

Marian Gaborik – $4.875 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Buyouts

  • Dion Phaneuf – $1.35 million for the 2020-21 season, $354,000 in each of the next two seasons
  • Bobby Ryan – $3.58 million for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, $1.83 million in each of the following two seasons

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Ottawa Senators have the third, fifth, and 28th overall selections in the first round. Ottawa has four selections in the second round, two selections in the third round, one selection in each of the fourth and fifth rounds, and two in the sixth round. That’s 13 total selections in this year’s draft.

Ottawa Senators summary

The Senators have a ton of options on how to shape their team in the future. They have the most cap space in the league, and the most draft picks in this upcoming draft. With a deep prospect pool in place, it has the potential to be even stronger. The Senators can be elite in 3-5 years if they make the right selections.

Philadelphia Flyers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Philadelphia Flyers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Cap space: $4,735,273

Notable Free Agents

  • Philippe Myers RFA
  • Tyler Pitlick UFA
  • Derek Grant UFA
  • Nate Thompson UFA
  • Nolan Patrick RFA
  • Justin Braun UFA

Forwards

Scott Laughton – $2.30 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Michael Raffl – $1.60 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Claude Giroux – $8.28 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Sean Couturier – $4.33 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – $1.075 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Joel Farabee – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Jakub Voracek – $8.25 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Kevin Hayes – $7.142857 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2026

Travis Konecny – $5.5 million cap hit, UFA 2025

James van Riemsdyk – $7.00 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Oscar Lindblom – $3.00 million cap hit, RFA 2023

Defensemen

Matt Niskanen – $5.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Travis Sanheim – $3.25 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Robert Hagg -$1.6 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Ivan Provorov – $6.75 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Shayne Gostisbehere – $4.5 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Goaltenders

Carter Hart – $730,833 cap hit, RFA 2021

Brian Elliott – $1.5 million cap hit, UFA 2021

LTIR

Samuel Morin – $700,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Buyouts

  • Andrew MacDonald – $1.97 million for the 2020-21 season
  • David Schlemko – $600k for the 2020-21 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Philadelphia has the 23rd overall selection in the first round. The Flyers have one selection each of the second, fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. They also have two selections in the seventh round.

Philadelphia Flyers summary

The Flyers will need to get creative to create more cap space to sign their RFAs and secure their goaltending towards the future. Philadelphia definitely has potential to trade or create a buyout situation to keep contention at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby #87 (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby #87 (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Cap space: $2,634,825

Notable Free Agents

  • Patrick Marleau UFA
  • Conor Sheary UFA
  • Matt Murray RFA
  • Justin Schultz UFA
  • Dominik Simon RFA
  • Sam Lafferty RFA
  • Anthony Angello RFA

Forwards

Colton Sceviour – $1.20 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Zach Aston-Reese – $1 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Teddy Blueger – $750,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Evgeni Malkin – $9.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Bryan Rust – $3.50 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Kasperi Kapanen – $3.20 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Jared McCann – $2.94 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Sidney Crosby – $8.70 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Jake Guentzel – $6.00 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Jason Zucker – $5.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Brandon Tanev – $3.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Defensemen

John Marino – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Kris Letang – $7.25 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2022

Juuso Riikola – $1.15 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Michael Matheson – $4.875 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Brian Dumoulin – $4.10 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Marcus Pettersson – $4.025175 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Jack Johnson – $3.25 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Goaltenders

Tristan Jarry – $3.5 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Casey DeSmith – $1.25 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Retained Salary

Nick Bjugstad – $2.05 million for the 2020-21 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Penguins do not own a first or second round selection. Pittsburgh has one pick in each of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.

Pittsburgh Penguins summary

The Penguins have a very tight cap number heading into free agency. With a lot of contracts with term on the books already, they will need to clear space to sign their RFAs.

More trades or potential buyout to come from Pittsburgh. They are in win now mode with not many high draft picks in the next two upcoming Drafts.

San Jose Sharks (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
San Jose Sharks (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Cap space: $14,131,667

Notable Free Agents

  • Joe Thornton UFA
  • Stefan Noesen UFA
  • Kevin Labanc RFA
  • Melker Karlsson UFA
  • Aaron Dell UFA

Forwards

Marcus Sorensen – $1.50 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Dylan Gambrell – $700,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Tomas Hertl – $5.63 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Logan Couture – $8.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2027

Evander Kane – $7.00 million cap hit, NTC, 2025

Timo Meier – $6.00 million cap hit, RFA 2023

Defensemen

Mario Ferraro – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Erik Karlsson – $11.5 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Brent Burns – $8.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – $7.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2026

Radim Simek – $2.25 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Goaltenders

Martin Jones – $5.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Sharks have the 31st overall selection in the first round. San Jose has two selections in the second round, two selections in the fifth round, and two selections in the seventh round.

San Jose Sharks summary

The San Jose Sharks have all their core players locked into long term contracts. The Sharks will look to add depth with their remaining cap space as they were decimated by injuries in the 2019-20 season.

Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

ST. LOUIS BLUES

Cap space: $5,153,096

Notable Free Agents

  • Alex Pietrangelo UFA
  • Vince Dunn RFA
  • Troy Brouwer UFA

Forwards

Alexander Steen – $5.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Jaden Schwartz – $5.35 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Tyler Bozak – $5.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Zachary Sanford – $1.50 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Ivan Barbashev – $1.475 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Robert Thomas – $894,166 cap hit, RFA 2021

Jacob Kyrou – $758,333 cap hit, RFA 2021

Jacob De La Rose – $700,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

David Perron – $4.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Samuel Blais – $1.50 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Vladimir Tarasenko – $7.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Ryan O’Reilly – $7.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Brayden Schenn – $6.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2028

Oskar Sundqvist – $2.75 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Carl Gunnarsson – $1.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Colton Parayko – $5.5 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Robert Bortuzzo – $1.375 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Justin Faulk – $6.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2027

Marco Scandella – $3.275 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Goaltenders

Jordan Binnington – $4.40 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Blues have the 26th overall selection in the first round. The Blues have two selections in the third round, one selection in the fourth round, two selections in the fifth round, and one selection in the seventh round.

St. Louis Blues summary

The 2019 Stanley Cup champions are hard pressed against the salary cap ceiling while it looks like they will lose their captain in free agency. The Blues will need to clear some cap space somehow some way to retain other pieces from their title run.

Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Cap space: $5,333,334

Notable Free Agents

  • Mikhail Sergachev RFA
  • Kevin Shattenkirk UFA
  • Erik Cernik RFA
  • Patrick Maroon UFA
  • Anthony Cirelli RFA
  • Mitchell Stephens RFA
  • Zach Bogosian UFA
  • Luke Schenn UFA
  • Jan Rutta UFA

Forwards

Blake Coleman – $1.80 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Cedric Paquette – $1.65 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Barclay Goodrow – $925,000 cap hit, UFA 2021

Brayden Point – $6.75 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Ondrej Palat – $5.30 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Nikita Kucherov – $9.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Steven Stamkos – $8.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2024

Yanni Gourde – $5.166666 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Tyler Johnson – $5.00 million cap hit,  NTC, UFA 2024

Alex Killorn – $4.45 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Braydon Coburn – $1.70 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Victor Hedman – $7.875 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Ryan McDonagh – $6.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2026

Goaltenders

Curtis McElhinney – $1.30 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Andrei Vasilevskiy – $9.50 million cap hit, UFA 2028

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Tampa Bay does not own a first round pick. The Lightning have one selection in the second round, two selections in the third round, two selections in the fourth round, two selections in the sixth round, and one selection in the seventh round.

Tampa Bay Lightning summary

The 2020 Stanley Cup champions have their core signed long term. Tampa Bay is right at the cusp of the salary cap so they will need to clear space to sign their RFAs and UFAs if they choose to.

Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Cap space: $5,406,467

Notable Free Agents

  • Ilya Mikheyev RFA
  • Evan Rodrigues RFA
  • Frederik Gauthier RFA
  • Kyle Clifford UFA
  • Jason Spezza UFA
  • Codi Ceci UFA
  • Tyson Barrie UFA
  • Travis Dermott RFA

Forwards

Zach Hyman – $2.25 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Auston Matthews – $11.634 million cap hit, UFA 2024

John Tavares – $11.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Mitch Marner – $10.893 million cap hit, UFA 2025

William Nylander – $6.962366 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Alexander Kerfoot – $3.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Andreas Johnsson – $3.40 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Pierre Engvall – $1.25 million cap hit, RFA 2022

Nicholas Robertson – $821,667 cap hit, RFA 2023

Defensemen

Calle Rosen – $750,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Morgan Reilly – $5.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Rasmus Sandin – $894,167 cap hit, RFA 2022

Timothy Liljegren – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2022

Jake Muzzin – $5.625 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2024

Justin Holl – $2.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Martin Marincin – $700,000 cap hit, UFA 2021

Goaltenders

Frederik Andersen $5.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Jack Campbell – $1.65 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Retained Cap

Phil Kessel – $1.20 million per year for the next two seasons

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Toronto owns the 15th overall selection in the first round. The Maple Leafs have one selection in the second round, two selections in the fourth round, one selection in the fifth round and three selection in each of the sixth and seventh rounds.

Toronto Maple Leafs summary

The Maple Leafs have very little salary cap space to work with and many RFAs and UFAs of their own to re-sign. They will need to make some moves to clear up cap space through trades or buyouts.

Quinn Hughes #43 of the Vancouver Canucks (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Quinn Hughes #43 of the Vancouver Canucks (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Cap space: $14,298,122

Notable Free Agents

  • Tyler Toffoli UFA
  • Jacob Markstrom UFA
  • Tyler Motte RFA
  • Jake Virtanen RFA
  • Adam Gaudette RFA
  • Josh Leivo UFA
  • Zack MacEwen RFA
  • Christopher Tanev UFA
  • Troy Stecher RFA
  • Oscar Fantenberg UFA
  • Louis Domingue UFA

Forwards

Elias Pettersson – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Tanner Pearson – $3.75 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Brandon Sutter – $4.375 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Sven Baertschi – $3.366666 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Loui Eriksson – $6.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Brock Boeser – $5.875 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Antoine Roussel – $3.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Jay Beagle – $3.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Bo Horvat – $5.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

J.T. Miller – $5.25 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Michael Ferland – $3.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Quinn Hughes – $916,667 cap hit, RFA 2021

Alexander Edler – $6.00 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2021

Jordie Benn – $2.00 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Tyler Myers – $6.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Goaltenders

Thatcher Demko $1.05 million, RFA 2021

Buyouts

Ryan Spooner – $1.033333 million for the 2020-21 season

Cap Recapture Penalty

Roberto Luongo – $3.035212 million cap hit for the next two seasons

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Canucks do not own a first or second round selection. Vancouver has one selection in each of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

Vancouver Canucks summary

The Canucks have a bright future but a lot of money tied into short term bad contracts. Look for them to trade or make a buyout to free up space to lock up their top talent long term.

Vegas Golden Knights (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Vegas Golden Knights (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Cap space: $0

Notable Free Agents

  • Nick Cousins RFA
  • Chandler Stephenson RFA
  • Tomas Nosek UFA
  • Deryk Engelland UFA
  • Jon Merrill UFA

Forwards

Paul Stastny – $6.50 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Reilly Smith – $5.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Ryan Reaves – $1.75 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Cody Glass – $863,333 cap hit, RFA 2022

Mark Stone – $9.50 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2027

Max Pacioretty – $7.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

William Karlsson – $5.90 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2027

Jonathan Marchessault – $5.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Alex Tuch – $4.75 million cap hit, UFA 2026

William Carrier – $1.40 million cap hit, UFA 2024

Defensemen

Alec Martinez – $4.00 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Brayden McNabb – $2.50 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Nick Holden – $1.70 million cap hit, UFA 2022

Zach Whitecloud – $725,000 cap hit, RFA 2022

Nate Schmidt – $5.95 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Shea Theodore – $5.20 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Goaltender

Robin Lehner – $5 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Marc-Andre Fleury – $7.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2022

Buyouts

Tomas Tatar – $500,000 for the 2020-21 season

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Vegas owns the 29th overall selection in the first round. The Golden Knights own two selections in the third round, and one selection in each of the sixth and seventh rounds.

Vegas Golden Knights summary

The Golden Knights have their core wrapped up for the long term. Vegas has very little cap space to work with and will need to make a few moves to sign their RFAs.

Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Cap space: $8,900,123

Notable Free Agents

  • Braden Holtby UFA
  • Ilya Kovalchuk UFA
  • Brenden Dillion UFA
  • Radko Gudas UFA
  • Jonas Siegenthaler RFA
  • Travis Boyd RFA

Forwards

Alex Ovechkin – $9.538462 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Jakub Vrana $3.35 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Nic Dowd – $750,000 cap hit, UFA 2022

Nicklas Backstrom – $9.20 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2025

Evgeny Kuznetsov – $7.80 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

T.J. Oshie – $5.75 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2025

Tom Wilson – $5.166666 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Lars Eller – $3.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Carl Hagelin – $2.75 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Richard Panik – $2.75 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Garnet Hathaway – $1.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Defensemen

Michal Kempny – $2.50 million cap hit, UFA 2022

John Carlson – $8.00 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2026

Dmitry Orlov – $5.10 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2023

Nick Jensen – $2.50 million cap hit, UFA 2023

Goaltenders

Ilya Samsonov – $925,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Pheonix Copley – $1.1 million cap hit, UFA 2022

2020-21 Draft Outlook

Washington owns the 25th selection in the first round. The Capitals have one selection in each of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.

Washington Capitals summary

The Capitals have most of their core players locked up long term. They will need to create more cap space by trade or buyouts in the near future.

Patrik Laine #29 of the Winnipeg Jets (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Patrik Laine #29 of the Winnipeg Jets (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

WINNIPEG JETS

Cap space: $14,077,145

Notable Free Agents

  • Dylan DeMelo UFA
  • Nathan Beaulieu UFA
  • Dmitry Kulikov UFA
  • Cody Eakin UFA
  • Logan Shaw UFA
  • Nick Shore UFA
  • Jack Roslovic RFA
  • Jansen Harkins RFA
  • Sami Niku RFA

Forwards

Patrik Laine – $6.75 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Mathieu Perreault – $4.125 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2021

Adam Lowry – $2.916666 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Andrew Copp – $2.28 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Blake Wheeler – $8.25 million cap hit, NMC, UFA 2024

Kyle Connor – $7.142857 million cap hit, UFA 2026

Mark Scheifele – $6.125 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Nikolaj Ehlers – $6.00 million cap hit, UFA 2025

Defensemen

Neal Pionk – $3.00 million cap hit, RFA 2021

Carl Dahlström – $850,000 cap hit, RFA 2021

Josh Morrissey – $6.25 million cap hit, UFA 2028

Goaltenders

Laurent Brossoit – $1.50 million cap hit, UFA 2021

Connor Hellebuyck – $6.166666 million cap hit, UFA 2024

LTIR

Bryan Little – $5.29 million cap hit, NTC, UFA 2024

Buyouts

None

2020-21 Draft Outlook

The Jets have the 10th overall selection in the first round. Winnipeg has one selection in each of the second, fifth and sixth rounds.

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Winnipeg Jets summary

The Jets have a lot of roster slots to fill for next season and beyond with not a lot of salary cap space. Trades or a buyout will need to happen to create more room to fill out the roster.

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