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NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly announced yesterday that he expected to NHL’s salary cap to stay the same or very close to it. If that expectation holds up to be true then there are going to be a fair number of teams in trouble. The cap currently sits at $71.4 million and if the NHLPA doesn’t use the 5% 'inflator' option then a number of clubs will be dangerously close to the cap without being able to sign key players. Chief among them, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 2016-2017 season is coming and the Blue Jackets, after finishing 27th this past season, have 68 of 71.4 million already committed to 43 contracts. That’s $3.4 million in space left over. That’s it. They don’t have the money available to sign players to get better. They need internal development to be the thing that brings them up.
Here’s the first problem: Seth Jones is an restricted free agent this summer and is going to command a raise. Here’s the second: The Jackets need to have money available for Puljujarvi if he makes their squad. Here’s the third: They have five players with no-movement clauses.
There is blood in the water here, and the Jackets are in danger of losing their big time acquisition. Nothing could be more embarrassing for the Jackets than trading their top center for Seth Jones then losing him for relatively cheap.
When the rumours of Jones’ availability broke, I was very firmly against the idea of trading Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to acquire him. Seth Jones is not a sure thing to be a top pairing defender, but he has the tools and he’s already a decent defender. As a righty in today’s NHL who was acquired at great cost, there’s no reason for Jones to take a great discount over what will likely be the heart of his career.
If Edmonton wanted in on Seth Jones but didn’t want to give up their most experienced Center, now is the time to act. We know that Edmonton is desperate for top four defenders. We know they need right handed defenders more than any other position. We know that specifically the club was linked to Jones before.
Last year the Bruins were “forced” into a hastily and poorly conceived trade with the Flames that sent Dougie Hamilton out of town because an Oiler offer sheet was hanging over their heads. If the Bruins were worried enough to pull the trigger on that deal, the Blue Jackets should be terrified based on their current position.
It’s not just about Jones, it’s about the yet undrafted player they take in the three spot. As Oiler fans know very well, the cap cost of high-end draft picks like Puljujarvi is not the $925,000 in base salary. Teams must also have an allowance for bonus overages and on high-end prospects on max contracts that number is close to 4 million in total.
Now if Columbus wants to match any offer sheet made towards Jones then they need to shed salary. Here’s the rub, the team has its most expensive players on NMCs. Dubinsky at $5.85 million, Foligno at $5.5 million, Clarkson at $5.25 million, Hartnell at $4.75 million, and Fedor Tyutin at $4.5 million are all locked down. Not to say they wouldn’t waive their no-move clauses to leave to a contender, but it’s no guarantee they would. And when we’re talking about not being cap compliant, teams would be pretty ballsy to bank on some “maybes”.
As per
Elliotte Friedman, the compensation for RFAs this year are as follows:
< 1,239,226 =
Nothing
> 1,239,226 – 1,877,615 =
3rd Rounder
> 1,877,615 – 3,755,233 =
2nd Rounder
> 3,755,233 – 5,632,847 =
1st and 3rd Rounders
> 5,632,847 – 7,510,464 =
1st, 2nd, 3rd Rounders
> 7,510,464 – 9,388,080 =
1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Rounders
> 9,388,080 =
1st, 1st, 1st, 1st Rounders
The Oilers would put the Jackets in an extremely difficult position even if they offered 5.5M and they would be giving up only a 1st and 3rd.
***As an aside, had the Bruins allowed the Oilers to make an RFA offer on Hamilton they would likely have received the 4th Overall pick in this draft.***
But CAN the Oilers make that offer? They owe the Bruins their second rounder next year because they signed Chiarelli and the NHL still had that asinine rule in place about hiring executives and coaches even if they were fired. If they want to offer $6 million to guarantee Columbus not matching then the team doesn’t have the necessary pick.
Well, according to Renaud Lavoie,
the NHLPA has grieved the matter citing that the rule negatively affects RFAs. As such the Oilers can make the an RFA offer and if it is successful then the Oilers can defer giving the Bruins the pick until 2018. So it appears those fears are over.
As for other fears like “retaliation” against the Oilers. If the Oilers allow their prized young players to hit RFA status without giving them extensions before, then it doesn’t matter who they offer sheet or don’t offer sheet, the other 29 teams will try to poach them. If Connor McDavid becomes an RFA then someone is making a 12 million dollar offer for sure. So be damned with playing nice for no good reason.
Columbus has a player the Oilers want. They are in a position of great weakness with regards to the Cap. There is literally no harm in making an offer to a player like Jones. If the Jackets match then Edmonton loses nothing. If they cant then the most they lose is a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd for their greatest need and they keep the forward core intact.
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Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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