Capped: Where are some of the likely landing spots for the remaining free agents?

First off, if you haven’t purchased the Dobber Fantasy Guide yet, what are you waiting for? It’s easily the best damn fantasy hockey guide out there. Where else will you find a guide that receives updates leading right up to the start of the NHL season?  That’s a rhetorical question by the way. If you don’t know, the answer is simple: no place else. If you play in a fantasy league, you owe yourself the chance to win your league and buying the guide gives you the edge you need. Go buy the guide. It’s worth every penny.

With that being said, let’s move on to this week’s Capped.

We are well into the dog days of summer hockey and the UFA signings have really slowed down the past few weeks. Teams are re-signing RFA’s and newly drafted kids to their entry-level deals, but there are still a lot of unrestricted free agents waiting to find new homes for the upcoming 2015-16 NHL season. 

In this week’s Capped, we will take a look at what teams could still be buyers and what they may very well be looking for. The amount of cap space and available roster spots that teams have could also directly affect how much they can afford to sign the remaining UFA’s. This can be a good thing for fantasy owners as your remaining guys may end up taking less as the summer drags on, just to find work. Less cap space may also force some players to leave for other leagues, as we have seen in the past. The KHL is always looking for players to return home, along with other premiere leagues in Europe.

Thanks to our new salary cap affiliate, Capfriendly, here is a chart that shows every team’s estimated cap space today along with how many roster players they already have signed to their NHL club heading into the 2015-16 season. Keep in mind that the salary cap this year will be $71.4M and the cap floor is set at $52.8M. This lists teams in reverse order in regards to available cap space.

In regards to NHL rules in regards to roster sizes, there may be a maximum of 23 players on each Club's playing roster at any one time from the commencement of the NHL regular season through the trade deadline. Prior to the start of the season, each Club must submit to the NHL its "Opening Day Playing Roster" which shall be comprised of not more than 23 players. Each Club must have a roster of at least 20 players, composed of 18 skaters and two goaltenders. Players on Injured Reserve do not count in the 23-man limit.

As we can see from the list above, New Jersey and Carolina has the most roster spots still to fill and thankfully have the cap space available to do so. Other teams like Chicago, Washington, Pittsburgh and St. Louis still have roster spots to fill and don’t have much cap space left to fill those spots. 

Let’s take a look at the teams who could still be in the market for available free agents and what they may be looking for in regards to filling roster holes.

New Jersey Devils

With an estimated $14M in available space, the Devils could still be serious buyers in the free agent market. If there is one roster spot on the Devils that needs work, it’s on their right wing.  As it stands right now, the Devils only show Kyle Palmieri and Jordan Tootoo on their current roster as being under contract. Steve Bernier and Michael Ryder have yet to be re-signed. I could see the Devils re-signing Bernier, who had his best NHL season last year in New Jersey, scoring 16 goals and adding 16 assists. I don’t think Ryder is coming back.

As far as available RW options are concerned, the pickings are slim. Guys like Lee Stempniak, Jack Skille or even Martin Erat are some of the better options out there. Yikes! Don’t be surprised to see a kid like Stefan Matteau asked to slide over to the right side, but they still need at least one or two more to fill out their roster.

The Devils also have a need on the blue line, with only six current members under contract. There are certainly better options for defensemen than up on the wing. The obvious ones available are still Cody Franson, Christian Ehrhoff, and Marek Zidlicky.  Considering the only defenseman currently on their roster that is over the age of 24 is Andy Greene, I could see the Devils trying to acquire some experience to aid in the progression of their young backend. Zidlicky had already spent four seasons in New Jersey before being dealt to Detroit late last season and was well respected in the organization. It’s possible he could find his way back there but the Devils do have options.

Carolina Hurricanes

Even though the list above shows the Hurricanes at only 20 roster players, I don’t think that number includes Noah Hanifin, who short of something drastic, will be on their opening night roster. 

If you look at their current line up from their official webpage, it shows them having a heavy presence down the middle but kids being forced to the wing, as again, they only show one actual RW on their roster, Jeff Skinner, and many would call him a LW. One of the kids they expect to make the jump from the AHL to the NHL is Justin Shugg, their AHL affiliates leading scorer last year. That still leaves openings on their roster for more RW help. Much like New Jersey, who also needs help on the right side, the options are thin. Michael Ryder is an option as someone who still has something to prove as a possible top-six winger. 

New York Islanders

The Islanders show 20 on their roster with just over $9M left to spend. Currently, they only show six actual defensemen on their roster so there will be spots up for battle there from kids like Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield. The Islanders have a nice mix on their backend already of youth and vets so if they are going to sign a defenseman, I could see them simply going for experience and depth measures.

They currently have nine forwards signed so it’s hard to say if they will shop for some experience up front or call up recently signed Kirill Petrov. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them still in the hunt for some depth on the free agent market leading up to the start of camp.

Los Angeles Kings

Here’s another team with a need for defensive help with only six current NHL players signed to the big club. Of course, the pending legal issues of Slava Voynov tend to cloud the picture for the Kings but that shouldn’t stop them from filling their roster. The Kings pushed hard to re-sign Andrej Sekera but just didn’t have the cap space to match the big bucks he earned elsewhere. There’s not much in Manchester worth bringing up (Vincent LoVerde and Derek Forbort could see some time) so expect the Kings to be shopping.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins are shy on forwards and don’t have much cap space to sign many. The obvious choice is using recently signed Sergei Plotnikov due to his inexpensive salary but that still only gives them 11 legit forwards; not enough to field four lines. We are also assuming Plotnikov is even NHL ready. That could be interesting if he isn’t.  With roughly $2.5M in available cap space, they do have room to sign a couple forwards to inexpensive deals but you know the old saying “you pay peanuts and you get monkeys”; this is the bottom six for the Penguins and has been for years now. The Penguins continue to be a top-heavy team, spending the majority of their cap on their top six while neglecting to invest accordingly in their bottom six. It’s been this way for years and could be a big reason why the Penguins continue to struggle in the playoffs.

****

As always, thanks for taking the time to give this a read. Feel free to leave a comment and follow me on twitter: @chrispudsey