Capped: The highs and lows of Free Agent Frenzy

Am I the only one that feels like summer should just be starting? Usually for me, free agency signals the real beginning of summer, so it has been tough to shake that off recently. Anyway, welcome back to another Capped article where I'm going to recap most of the noteworthy signings since July 1^st October 9^th. I'm going to be giving my thoughts in a bit of a new format, running down the top/bottom three contracts for a bunch of different

If you want to dive in deeper, then please check out my salary projection lists, or you can find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean where I have been putting out some quick thoughts on every signing as they happen.

Top-200 free agent salary projections – skaters

Projecting salaries for free agent goalies

 

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Contracts most likely to be bought out:

 

Joel Edmundson (D) – Montreal Canadiens

Projected Cap Hit: $3,250,000

New Cap Hit: $6,250,000

Currently Edmundson is at best the Habs' seventh best defenceman, however he is tied for their third-highest paid. If Montreal realizes their mistake early and buys him out next summer, they will be on the hook for six years, but only one of those years would count higher than $2 million against their cap. Every year longer that they hold on to Edmundson the buyout becomes less painful on the books. It's just a matter of time until the play on the ice causes the Montreal brass to swallow their pride and buy this contract out.

 

Matt Murray (G) – Ottawa Senators

Projected Cap Hit: $3,

New Cap Hit: $6,250,000

With the overabundance of goaltenders around the league right now, and a large concentration of the stars still being on the younger side, overpaying for an average goalie makes little sense. For a team like the Senators that are cash strapped, they won't want to pay Murray's bigger (and heavily back-loaded) contract when instead they could just buy him out and play some of their youngsters. Their prospect cubboard is stocked with goalies, some of whom are just about ready for a chance to prove themselves full time in the NHL. Two years from now it is going to be an abs