NHL Salary Cap: Closer Look at Defense

Ever wondering about how the 30 NHL teams stack up in terms of salary cap restrictions, and how that it affects their abilities to keep the puck out of their own net?

I'm usually a Canucks Insider here for BleachersReport, and today, I am here to compare some team's defense core.

Anaheim: Visnovsky, Lydman, Brookbank, Festerling, Mikkelson - 10.56mil

Boston: Chara, Seidenberg, Ference, Boychuk, Stuart, Hunwick - 18.00mil

Chicago: Keith, Seabrook, Campbell, Hjalmarsson, Scott - 20.19mil

Detroit: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall, Ericsson, Kindl - 21.18mil

Edmonton: Souray, Gilbert, Whitney, Vandermeer, Foster, Smid - 19.53mil

Montréal: Markov, Hamrlik, Spacek, Gill, Gorges, O'Byrne, Subban - 20.25mil

New Jersey: Volchenkov, Tallinder, White, Salvador, Greene, Salmela - 14.88mil

New York Rangers: Redden, Rozsival, Girardi, Gilroy, Eminger, Del Zotto - 18.79mil

Ottawa: Gonchar, Kuba, Phillips, Karlsson, Lee, Carkner - 15.58mil

Philadelphia: Timonen, Pronger, Meszaros, Carle, Coburn, Walker, O'Donnell, Bartulis - 25.49mil

Pittsburgh: Martin, Michalek, Orpik, Letang, Goligoski, Lovejoy - 18.61mil

San Jose: Boyle, Vlasic, Wallin, Murray, Huskins, Demers, Leach - 17.51mil

Tampa Bay: Kubina, Ohlund, Hedman, Clark, Lundin, Lashoff, Smaby - 14.28mil

Toronto: Phaneuf, Komisarek, Kaberle, Beauchemin, Finger, Schenn, Lebda, Gunnarsson - 27.78mil

Vancouver: Hamhuis, Ballard, Bieksa, Salo, Edler, Ehrhoff, O'Brien, Alberts, Rome - 25.70mil

Canucks newly acquired Defense costs 25.7mil a year. 9 players.

Compare it to Toronto's 27.78mil, +2.08mil. 8 players.

Philadelphia's D is 27.49mil, -0.29mil. 8 players.

Chicago D is 20.19mil with only 5 players.

New Jersey D is 14.28mil--6 players.

Anaheim D is 10.56mil--5 defensemen only.

Canucks have one of the deepest and most expensive defense core in the NHL. Toronto...we'll let them figure it out. Philadelphia plays 8 players and got deeper this off-season with Andrej Meszaros and Matt Walker.

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