NHL Free Agency: How Much Room Each Team Has to Maneuver Under the Salary Cap

The NHL implemented a salary cap following the lockout of the 2003-2004 season. The cap often fluctuates from year to year, but in general certain teams have become known for spending right up to the limit, while others struggle to meet the minimum requirements set forth by the NHL.

As the dust settles on another wild offseason, it's good to take a look at where each team stands in terms of salary cap space. A few teams have to shed salary to get under the cap, and others still need reach the floor.

Here is where each team stands with just a few weeks before training camp opens up. The salary cap for the upcoming season is $68.4 million, and the floor is $48.3 million. All figures come courtesy of capgeek.com 

Anaheim Ducks

Cap Space: $10,033,667

The Ducks have plenty of cap space to re-sign Teemu Selanne if he decides to play another season.

Boston Bruins

Cap Space: $7,617,024

The Boston Bruins are currently in contract talks with restricted free agent Brad Marchand. They shouldn't have trouble fitting him under the cap.

Buffalo Sabres

Cap Space: - $3,595,357

The Buffalo Sabres are one of the teams that will have to find a way to move some money around to be cap compliant before the start of the season. It was a busy offseason of spending for the team.

Calgary Flames

Cap Space: $3,631,666

The Calgary Flames are dealing with a lot of overpriced contracts from the past regime. Jay Feaster has a bit of house cleaning to do, but the Flames still rest comfortably under the salary cap.

Carolina Hurricanes

Cap Space: $14,525,000

Even after dropping a solid amount of coin on Tomas Kaberle and Joni Pitkanen, the Carolina Hurricanes are still well under the cap for the upcoming season.

Chicago Blackhawks

Cap Space: $3,415,706

After the mess of a salary cap situation the Blackhawks dealt with last offseason, the team seems to have the situation under control a year later.

Colorado Avalanche

Cap Space: $15,866,666

Typical of a team in rebuilding mode, the Colorado Avalanche are just above the salary floor.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Cap Space: $4,326,024

The Columbus Blue Jackets spent more money this offseason than they ever have, and they still sit at over $4 million under the cap.

Dallas Stars

Cap Space: $14,395,000

Anyone who thinks cap space factored into Brad Richards not re-signing with the Stars just needs to take one look at the figure above.

Detroit Red Wings

Cap Space: $5,845,455

The Detroit Red Wings run one of the best hockey operations in the entire league, so it's no surprise that they are in an ideal cap situation.

Edmonton Oilers

Cap Space: $7,165,000

The Edmonton Oilers are rebuilding with young, cheap players to go with a few pricey veterans. That bodes well for their salary cap situation.

Florida Panthers

Cap Space: $14,477,958

The Florida Panthers spent an outrageous amount of money this offseason and still barely got themselves above the cap floor.

Los Angeles Kings

Cap Space: $9,343,690

The L.A. Kings have plenty of cap space, but how much of it will they want to use on Drew Doughty's new contract?

Minnesota Wild

Cap Space: $9,494,222

Despite taking on Dany Heatley's big contract this offseason, the Minnesota Wild still have roughly $9.5 million under the cap.

Montreal Canadiens

Cap Space: $3,979,490

The Montreal Canadiens were unable to re-sign some of their top free agents this offseason due to the lack of cap space available to them.

Nashville Predators

Cap Space: $14,200,000

Imagine how good the Nashville Predators could be if they actually spent some money.

New Jersey Devils

Cap Space: $5,293,333

The Devils had to re-sign Zach Parise this offseason, which took up a solid chunk of the salary cap.

New York Islanders

Cap Space: $15,534,834

The Islanders have tons of cap space, but unfortunately, it's a new arena the team really needs.

New York Rangers

Cap Space: $1,364,666

The Rangers budgeted things out nicely for Brad Richards this offseason. They sit just barely beneath the salary cap.

Ottawa Senators

Cap Space: $12,454,166

The Ottawa Senators are in complete rebuilding mode and have tons of cap space. However, they still may look to shed some of the salary on their blue line before the season starts.

Philadelphia Flyers

Cap Space: $175,239

In typical Flyers' fashion, the team is left with less than a million dollars to spare just before the drop of the first puck this fall.

Phoenix Coyotes

Cap Space: $13,356,250

Cap space is the least of Phoenix's worries right now. Finding a way to keep the team in town is a bit more pressing.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Cap Space: $1,562,500

The Pittsburgh Penguins are another strong hockey market that loves to spend right up to the cap.

San Jose Sharks

Cap Space: $3,255,000

The San Jose Sharks were forced to deal Dany Heatley's contract to make some cap room for a new-look defense.

St. Louis Blues

Cap Space: $12,395,834

Once the St. Louis Blues secure new ownership, they will undoubtedly start spending some of the $12 million in cap space that they have.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Cap Space: $3,933,917

Re-signing Steven Stamkos to a big-time contract certainly put a dent in Tampa Bay's payroll, but letting Stamkos go would have been a disastrous move.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Cap Space: $5,785,000

Brian Burke knows how to manage a hockey team and appears to have had another efficient and progressive offseason in Toronto.

Vancouver Canucks

Cap Space: $2,326,667

The Vancouver Canucks were able to keep most of the core intact, but a few key contributors, including Christian Ehrhoff, were casualties of the salary cap restrictions.

Washington Capitals

Cap Space: -$890,128

The Washington Capitals have a very minimal amount of salary to trim before opening night.

Winnipeg Jets

Cap Space: $16,015,834

The Winnipeg Jets will actually have to spend some money in order to reach the cap floor before the start of their season.