2023 NHL team salary cap rankings: #8-1

Credit: © Sergei Belski

The 2023 salary cap rankings have finally concluded, as after looking at teams 32-25, 24-17 and 16-9 over the past few weeks, it’s time to dive into the eight best teams in terms of their cap management. With this series, we’ve examined the different aspects of managing payroll in the cap era and graded teams based on how well they do it. The rankings are formulated through a somewhat complex process and system, which I have outlined in a summary of its own for your convenience.

To no surprise, this week’s list features the best of the best at keeping their salary cap sheets clean. Of course, there are still slip-ups in some areas; a few of the teams with older cores have good cap situations this season yet their windows are poised to slam shut quickly. But these teams are mostly doing things right and their rivals should pay attention.

And as I outlined last week, any signings made after Sept. 1 aren’t considered for the list in order to keep it consistent.

8. New York Rangers (2022: 30th)

Good Contract Percentage: 7th (2022: 30th)
Quality Cheap Deals: 1st (2022: 22nd)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 20th (2022: 14th)
Dead Cap Space: 13th (2022: 24th)
Quality of Core: 14th (2022: 14th)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 17th (2022: 27th)

The Rangers go from one of the worst teams in the league at managing their salary cap last season to one of the best this season. They somehow don’t see the biggest jump this year (we’ll get to that team in a second), but it’s still quite a surprise. Just how did they achieve this? Well, they went from being a poor play-driving team relying on goaltending to a good team that can actually back up their play with possession and scoring chances. They still aren’t necessarily elite at that, but the improvement has allowed a lot of their players to get better, which thus makes their contracts fare better in my system, which grades New York with a better cap situation.

The most obvious culprit of that is the Rangers ‘massively improved good contract percentage, jumping from 30th to seventh thanks to only having five bad contracts. If there’s any bad news there, it’s that three of those five bad contracts belong to three of their four highest-paid players in Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba, who are all great players but just shouldn’t be making elite-level money at this point in their careers. That said, none of them is as ugly as Barclay Goodrow’s deal, as he’s fallen into replacement level territory and still has four years left on his $3,641,667 AAV contract. New York also saw a big boost in quality cheap deals, going from just five last season to 12 this season thanks to a combination of cheap savvy veteran adds like Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino and Erik Gustafsson. That said, the fact that only one of these contracts is with a player under 27 and that player (Mac Hollowell) is still 24 years old is not an ideal sign for a Rangers team that’s supposed to be on the rise after a few years of rebuilding.

The other reason for the Rangers big’ jump in my system is that there’s no category dragging them down, as every one is at least in the top 20. Their dead cap space saw some improvement thanks to a majority of their buyouts being finished (outside of Brad Richards’ compliance buyout that counts for $0 against the cap), so that dead space has been diminished to just $610,892 of bonus overages. New York’s quality of core sees no change with no additions or subtractions to it, and their cap space to skill differential saw a 10-place jump thanks to the overall quality of their roster going from the bottom half to the top 10. Only one category saw a drop, as they added two no-trade/move contracts to their cap system with the signings of Wheeler and Jonathan Quick. There are certainly signs of this dramatic increase for the Rangers not lasting long due to the fact that their best players are all on the older side, but for right now, this team is legit and isn’t giving itself too many problems on the salary cap for the time being.

7. Vegas Golden Knights (2022: 6th)

Good Contract Percentage: 18th (2022: 9th)
Quality Cheap Deals: 9th (2022: 21st)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 28th (2022: 25th)
Dead Cap Space: 1st (2022: 2nd)
Quality of Core: 10th (2022: 2nd)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 5th (2022: 5th)

While the at-the-time defending Stanley Cup champions in the Colorado Avalanche also managed to finish in the top spot in last year’s salary cap rankings, this year’s defending champions will have to settle for only being in the top quarter of this year’s list. They’re going to be bringing back an almost identical roster this season, so they’ll certainly contend again this year, but they’ve stepped back in a couple areas as they deal with that post-Cup desperation to throw money around to keep everyone together, along with their several-year escape from cap hell slowly creeping up on them.

The only two categories that saw a bit of a step back for Vegas were their good contract percentage and their quality of core. Their good contract percentage is a victim of that desire to keep the band together, as they signed both Ivan Barbashev and Adin Hill to contracts a bit above the pay grade they should probably get to keep them around. The Golden Knights at least moved on from a bad contract in Reilly Smith’s to make that happen, so that softens the blow a bit, but considering how ruthless Vegas has been with transactions in the past, I expected a bit more from them this offseason. Their quality of core also takes a hit as a result with the addition of Barbashev to it, but it’s still top 10 thanks to the likes of Mark Stone, William Karlsson, Alex Pietrangelo and Zach Whitecloud.

Other than that, this definitely looks like a team fresh off a Stanley Cup win. The Golden Knights saw a big jump in their quality cheap deals thanks to some solid veteran contracts like Michael Amadio and the progress from young guns like Logan Thompson and Kaedan Korczak. Vegas’ cap space to skill differential stays the same as they’re obviously a team good enough to be capped out, and they’ve also managed to continue to stay out of trouble with dead cap space. Their only blind spot continues to be giving out a lot of no-move/trade contracts, adding two more this offseason with Barbashev and Hill. For a team that relies on being cold and calculating, that could cause some issues down the road if their flexibility to make trades is hampered, something they already experienced in 2022 with Evgenii Dadonov.

6. New Jersey Devils (2022: 2nd)

Good Contract Percentage: 8th (2022: 5th)
Quality Cheap Deals: 19th (2022: 15th)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 3rd (2022: 3rd)
Dead Cap Space: 23rd (2022: 23rd)
Quality of Core: 6th (2022: 9th)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 12th (2022: 1st)

Last year’s rankings seemed to have foreshadowed a breakout for the Devils, placing them in second place right before they took the league by storm and were a Cup contender. Obviously these rankings aren’t an indication of how good a team will be, but it showcased that New Jersey was making smart decisions and was on the cusp of being competitive because of it. They aren’t the runner-ups this year, but they’re still in the top 10, even falling where the Golden Knights did last year before their Cup win. Is that a sign for a Devils Cup win in 2024? Probably not, but they’re certainly capable of it regardless.

New Jersey still remains one of the best in the league at handing out contracts worth their value, and that hasn’t changed now that they’re paying five players more than $7 million a year. Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton are all locked up long term on big deals, and every one is worth it with all but Bratt falling into the elite tier. There’s a few contracts beyond those that drag the percentage down from last year, like Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula, but for the most part, the Devils are smart in this regard. They’ve also stayed out of trouble with no-move/trade clauses thanks to a younger core, but all those younger deals are slated to have clauses once the players hit their UFA seasons. The recent additions also help their quality of core because, well, of course it will when you add a ton of high-end talent and lock it up long term.

If there’s one place New Jersey took a step back in it’s their cap space to skill differential, but even then it’s nothing to worry about. It’s mostly just the result of them spending closer to the cap and also losing out on some of their insane depth that they had last year because of the cap space they had. They could do better with their quality cheap deals, but Luke Hughes already comes out as a second-pair defenseman and more young talent like Simon Nemec is also on the way. The Devils also find themselves in some trouble with dead cap space due to the buyouts of Cory Schneider and Janne Kuokkanen, along with the Ilya Kovalchuk recapture penalty, but the former two will be done next season and the latter will be done the year after. Needless to say, this Devils team is poised to make big runs on the ice for years to come, and a lot of that is due to their smart decisions off the ice.

5. Boston Bruins (2022: 28th)

Good Contract Percentage: 3rd (2022: 8th)
Quality Cheap Deals: 9th (2022: 29th)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 20th (2022: 27th)
Dead Cap Space: 25th (2022: 2nd)
Quality of Core: 2nd (2022: 23rd)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 10th (2022: 28th)

The Bruins are the other team on this list to jump from the bottom quarter of the league to the top quarter, and that may come as a surprise considering the state that the team is in. They may be capped out and low on centers, but coming off the best regular season in NHL history will also boost a lot of the players on the roster and make it look better. That lack of cap space also forced them to make smarter decisions, which allowed them to grow in a few categories that they hadn’t last season.

One place where Boston really needed to be smart was with their cheap quality deals, and that’s where they saw the biggest improvement from last season. Their roster is not riddled with young talent to indicate a brighter future, but they certainly needed some cheap veteran depth to work around the cap hell they are in. They also saw some improvement with their quality of core thanks to the addition of David Pastrnak’s extension, the improved play of Hampus Lindholm, and most importantly the aging out of Charlie Coyle’s contract from that group. It also may seem shocking that the Bruins’ cap space to skill differential jumped up considering their tight cap situation, but that’s because last season improved a lot of the roster’s numbers and they actually aren’t as capped out as they were last season. Add in that their good contract percentage improves thanks to having the second-most good contracts and the second-fewest bad contracts and it’s easy to see why the Bruins improved like they did.

Where Boston takes a steep drop off is their dead cap space, which shouldn’t be a surprise. The Mike Reilly buyout hurts a little bit, but a lot of the damage is from the $4.5 million in bonus overages from Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s contracts, which is by far the most in the league. The Bruins also locked up a lot of this group with no-move/trade clauses, which didn’t help them this offseason as they tried to move some money to free up cap space, and ultimately led them to moving on from quality players like Reilly and Taylor Hall. Boston is certainly in a brighter spot with their salary cap than they were last season, but who knows how that will affect the on-ice product as their forward depth was gutted.

4. Nashville Predators (2022: 14th)

Good Contract Percentage: 11th (2022: 20th)
Quality Cheap Deals: 6th (2022: 8th)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 3rd (2022: 3rd)
Dead Cap Space: 31st (2022: 21st)
Quality of Core: 1st (2022: 16th)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 8th (2022: 20th)

It’s a new era in Nashville, as the Predators have moved on from the only general manager they’ve ever known in David Poile and brought in a familiar face in Barry Trotz to take the mantle. It was probably a bit overdue as Poile’s decision-making was beginning to slip, and Trotz has promised big changes and for the most part delivered on it. The Preds jump up 10 places from last season as Trotz’ first offseason put them in the range of the top 10 in five of six categories, and the one that isn’t is because of the mess he needed to clean up.

That one bad spot is the Predators’ dead cap space, as they have almost $9 million of their cap wasting away due to the buyouts of Matt Duchene and Kyle Turris, along with $4 million in retained salary for Ryan Johansen. That puts Nashville in second-last in that regard, and it will get worse as Duchene’s buyout worsens in the next two seasons. But, it’s allowed the Preds to improve in several other regards. Their good contract percentage improves because they got rid of those ugly contracts, their cap space to skill differential improves with the increased cap space and being able to invest it in better players, and their quality of core jumps to the top of the league because it’s made up of two elite players in Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi and one who grades out as a first-liner in Ryan O’Reilly.

The Predators’ surprise push for the playoffs also affects their high ranking, as it gave more ice time to their younger players like Tomas Novak and Juuso Parssinen to get them considered for having quality cheap deals, along with other prospects like Yaroslav Askarov allowing the list to grow. What may be most impressive is Nashville’s lack of no-trade/move contracts, as in the past the lack of a state tax there usually meant players would take a discount but then also require a clause so they didn’t get dealt to a place that had taxes. Maybe it’s because the team is rebuilding, so they want to keep their options open about playing for a contender, but maybe they also want to stick around for the vision that Trotz seems to have in this new age of the Preds.

3. Dallas Stars (2022: 8th)

Good Contract Percentage: 6th (2022: 19th)
Quality Cheap Deals: 6th (2022: 23rd)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 17th (2022: 14th)
Dead Cap Space: 11th (2022: 2nd)
Quality of Core: 3rd (2022: 3rd)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 16th (2022: 6th)

It’s only fitting that after talking about the team that saw improvement by buying out Duchene to clear cap space that we talk about the team that saw improvement by signing Duchene to a good deal. That team is the Dallas Stars, who have managed to retool to a younger focus and lock up that young core while also navigating not one, but two $9+ million albatross contracts.

Jamie Benn has at least managed to salvage his contract a bit after a 78-point season, but not enough to make him worth $9.5 million, while Tyler Seguin’s 50-point season definitely isn’t worth $9.85 million. However, the Stars managed to sign Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, and Miro Heiskanen to $7 million+ deals in spite of that, and part of that is due to cheaper bargain deals like Duchene’s, Joe Pavelski’s, and Jake Oettinger’s. That also extends to Dallas’ quality cheap deals, which boasts a solid amount of young talent highlighted by Wyatt Johnston, Ty Dellandrea, Thomas Harley, and Nils Lundkvist. The Stars also find themselves with one of the best quality cores thanks to Hintz and Heiskanen’s long-term deals, and they would probably jump to the best in the league if Seguin didn’t still qualify.

You don’t make the top three by struggling, so while Dallas has a few categories that aren’t in the top 10, only one teeters into the bottom half of the league. They dropped a bit in dead cap space due to some bonus overages, and a bit more in cap space to skill differential not due to the roster getting worse, but that’s because they’re now spending over the cap compared to the $6+ million they had last season. The one category that did fall into the bottom half was their no-trade/move contracts, but that’s only because they added one more with the Evgenii Dadonov extension. It’s incredible how the Stars were able to improve the team so much more in the offseason despite those pricey Benn and Seguin deals, and now they’re looking like one of the top Cup contenders in the league, or at the very least in the West.

2. Calgary Flames (2022: 7th)

Good Contract Percentage: 5th (2022: 1st)
Quality Cheap Deals: 9th (2022: 30th)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 20th (2022: 22nd)
Dead Cap Space: 1st (2022: 2nd)
Quality of Core: 3rd (2022: 6th)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 11th (2022: 4th)

To say that the 2022-23 season was a disappointment for the Calgary Flames would be an understatement. Even with losing their two best players in Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, the Flames managed to salvage their offseason by bringing in Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri, but a combination of bad luck and a toxic coaching environment led to Calgary missing out on the postseason. Now with a bunch of new extensions kicking in, it didn’t leave a lot of room for incoming GM Craig Conroy to make big changes, but it’s the few things they could change that see them finish in the runner-up spot.

One of those few things for the Flames was adding in a bunch of quality cheap deals, going from one of the worst in the league to the top 10. Some of that is due to some veteran additions like Dryden Hunt and Clark Bishop, but a lot of it is because of the young talent they have like Jakob Pelletier, Matt Coronato and Dustin Wolf, all players that will actually get ice time this season now that Darryl Sutter is out the door. Calgary also saw some improvement with their quality of core, not so much due to any additions but just with the improvement of the players within that, along with dodging a bullet of Jacob Markstrom no longer qualifying for it after his rough season.

Of course, now that the Flames are capped out, that will naturally see them drop off in their cap space to skill differential, as their roster stays at a similar quality otherwise. And while their good contract percentage is no longer the best in the league, top five is still excellent efficiency, especially when only one of the six bad contracts was signed by Conroy. If there is some concern, the fact that two of them belong to Huberdeau and Markstrom isn’t the best sign for the future, but if the Flames 2022 offseason’s moves indicate anything, it’s that their window was shortened too quickly rebuild around an older core, and when it closes, it’s going to slam shut.

1. Florida Panthers (2022: 5th)

Good Contract Percentage: 2nd (2022: 2nd)
Quality Cheap Deals: 16th (2022: 3rd)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 5th (2022: 6th)
Dead Cap Space: 17th (2022: 30th)
Quality of Core: 3rd (2022: 3rd)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 1st (2022: 17th)

Last year’s No. 1 spot on the cap rankings went to the at-the-time defending Stanley Cup champions in the Colorado Avalanche, and this year it goes to the runner-up in the Florida Panthers. That’s probably a good sign of the accuracy of these rankings, right? Last season was supposed to be the cap crunch for the Panthers as they navigated gutting their depth to bring in Tkachuk, and now that they not only weathered that storm but excelled in it as much as possible with their Cup Final appearance, their cap situation is looking really good… the best in the league, in fact.

Florida’s cap space to skill differential sees the biggest improvement because of that increased cap space, but also because their roster remains one of the best in the league. That helps the fact that of their 20 contracts that are worth $1 million or more, only five of them are overpayments, from obvious cases like Sergei Bobrovsky to instances of slightly overpaying replacement level players like Steven Lorentz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Niko Mikkola. Still, the Panthers have a lot more of the inverse, including new additions like Evan Rodrigues, Kevin Stenlund, Mike Reilly and Dmitry Kulikov. Florida also have a really strong quality of core made up of Tkachuk, Rodrigues and Aleksander Barkov, although Eetu Luostarinen drags that down ever-so slightly, and the Panthers also continue to keep out of no-move/trade clause trouble with only four on the books right now.

Florida’s quality cheap deals took the biggest hit from last year, but even then, it doesn’t consider the fact that the Panthers have five contracts that are less than $1.2 million to quality players like Reilly, Kulikov, Stenlund, Nick Cousins and Anthony Stolarz. Not that Florida is getting any exceptions for it, but it’s something worth noting in terms of the overall evaluation of the team. Their only category in the bottom half of the league is their dead cap space, and even that saw big improvements now that Scott Darling’s buyout is finished and the worst of Keith Yandle’s buyout penalty is finished. I’ve found something to criticize about every team’s cap situation throughout this year’s rankings, but it’s hard to be too critical of the Panthers outside of Bobrovsky’s contract (which wasn’t signed by current GM Bill Zito), and that’s probably why Florida sits on top this season.

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