Solving the Detroit Red Wings' Salary-Cap Problems

Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland knows that he has some work to do to ensure that his team is compliant with the NHL salary cap.

Last week, Holland told MLive.com’s Brendan Savage that even after allowing for long-term injured reserve (LTIR) exemptions for players such as Johan Franzen and Joe Vitale, his team will be over the CBA-mandated $73.0 million upper limit.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

“I think realistically, when it's all said and done, we're probably a little over the cap,” Holland said. “What's a little? Probably a million dollars or just a little bit less over the cap if you don't count Vitale and Franzen.”

That math roughly fits with the calculations of cap website General Fanager. That site shows the Red Wings $4.9 million over the cap but includes a) the combined salaries of Franzen and Vitale, which cancel out the overages, and b) a 15-forward roster. However, the website excludes a seventh defenceman, and there’s also a need to figure in the rookie bonuses likely to be accumulated by Dylan Larkin.

Put it all together, and if Detroit can shave $1.0 million or so in salary, the Red Wings should be OK.

The obvious option to clear that space would be a buyout, but the team has now blown through its original buyout window. A second, more limited window, which was opened up by the team’s decision to file for arbitration on Petr Mrazek, has likewise come and gone.

Barring an injury in training camp that would allow Detroit to take (further) advantage of the NHL’s LTIR rules, trade would seem to be the best way to get that money off the books.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

In a perfect world, the Wings would trade goalie Jimmy Howard. The club’s former starter has struggled the last few years and has been surpassed by Petr Mrazek. With three years left on his contract and a cap hit in excess of $5.0 million, it’s going to be difficult to convince another team to take the 32-year-old off Detroit’s books.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The other obvious candidate for a salary-dump trade is Jonathan Ericsson, but the obstacles are similar. Ericsson is another 32-year-old with a lot of term (four seasons) and money (an average cap hit of $4.25 million) left on his deal. Like Howard, he’s clearly on the decline; over the last three seasons his on-ice shot metrics have badly trailed his team’s average. He fell to fifth on the Wings’ depth chart in 2015-16.

There simply isn’t much demand on the trade market for old, underperforming players on big multiyear contracts. Detroit is almost certainly stuck with Howard and Ericsson.

The most realistic salary dump may be Brendan Smith.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Smith’s cap hit next season is a modest $2.75 million, and he’s also in the final year of his contract. He’s only 27 years old, though, so a team could take him on with an eye toward giving him a test-run and possibly re-signing him if things go well. He’s been competent in a depth role in Detroit, but the club has been reluctant to trust him with more minutes and a second opinion might do him good.

Importantly for the Red Wings, he’s roughly replaceable internally.

Prospects Xavier Ouellet and Ryan Sproul both must make the team or clear waivers to be assigned to the minors. Ouellet is a left-shot defender on a modest $715,000 contract; Sproul is still unsigned but may come in even cheaper. Assuming the Red Wings avoided taking money back in a Smith deal, they could presumably promote both players and still have enough space to ease their salary-cap problems.

Smith is in the sweet spot for a trade. He makes enough money to solve Detroit’s issues in the short term but not so much money that he’s going to be impossible to move. His role on the roster can be filled with cheaper, younger players. He’s not newly signed, like Thomas Vanek, or obviously a part of the team’s young core like Tomas Tatar.

That doesn’t mean a deal will be a no-brainer, though. Even taking on $2.75 million is going to be difficult for a lot of teams, and with plenty of unsigned left-shooting defenceman in free agency still—including Kris Russell, Kyle Quincey, Matt Bartkowski and plenty of others—opponents may ask why they should take on that contract. Even giving Smith away may prove to be a bit of a challenge.

The Red Wings don’t have many better alternatives, though. The players they don’t want are too pricey to move; the players other teams want are too dear. Smith is neither and should be movable.   

Statistics courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com.

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.