The last several ‘Capped’ instalments have been about players providing above- and below-average value on their contracts. Last week we talked about players like DeBrincat and Couturier. The rest of the series can be found here. Today is our final piece in this series.

Tyson Barrie – Defence – Edmonton Oilers ($3.75M)

I'll admit, I had my reservations about Barrie in Edmonton. I figured he would have a good season, by that I mean return to being a 50-point defenceman, but I did not foresee him having a career year and pacing for 70 points.

He was steady all year long starting with 24 points in 30 games and then finishing with 24 points in 26 games.

For a defenceman to offer you almost 20 points-per-million in salary and not be on an entry-level contract, that usually equates to a heck of a year. It was a low risk move by Edmonton to sign Barrie below market value and it paid off.  Things just could not have turned out better for Barrie.

This summer should be a fun one for him. The key in returning to Edmonton for me is whether or not Oskar Klefbom will be healthy enough to return to the team or if he will be placed on long term injury reserve. It could mean the difference of Barrie re-signing or continuing his career elsewhere.

Jordan Greenway – Left Wing – ($2.1M) / Joel Eriksson Ek – Center ($1.18M) / Marcus Foligno – Right Wing ($3.1M) – Minnesota Wild

I take nothing away from the season Kirill Kaprizov had this year. He won the Calder in early February and just got stronger as the season went.

But for me, Minnesota's season hinged on the emergence of this big, heavy, and very cheap second line. I thought about picking just one, but they were all such good value and it was as a line that they all produced significantly above value.

Admittedly, bridge contracts can be a boon like this. If we walk back the clock three years, Eriksson Ek was the least of the three to be a surprise. With a 44-point pace it's not like he blew the roof off. Doing this at $1.18M is where you really reaped the reward. With 2.1 shots and almost two hits per game he punched his weight in multi-cat pools as well. He is emerging as a really strong two-way second line center.

Jordan Greenway was not a complete surprise either. At $2.1M and a 47-point pace, he really provided strong value as well. He added 1.5 hits per game and if you're in a multi-cat league that counts penalty minutes, his 70 PIM pace is a real nice added touch. His 1.4 shots per game really needs to improve if he is going to take another step forward though. One thing we have learned, big players like him need more time. Patience is key.

There's little doubt that finding Markus Foligno's name on this list anywhere is a surprise. He entered the season with 550 NHL games and a career .31 points per game mark. I don't believe I am standing on a limb when I say no one foresaw a 55-point pace from this banger. In points pools, he was a nice waiver wire grab. In multi-cat pools, odds are he was owned for his hit and penalty minute value. There's always someone willing to spend a little bit of coin on a big hitter. Whatever he brought offensively has always been the cherry on top. Well, this year, he dumped a bunch of cherries on owners.

Expect this line to be glued together for another season. Now if only Kevin Fiala and Kaprizov could get upgrades at center, Matt Duchene perhaps? I digress.

BAD (FAIR)

Ryan O'Reilly – Center – St. Louis Blues ($7.5M)

This is no slight to O'Reilly. He had a great year, for him. With 54 points in 56 games he was on pace to push his career high of 77-points in 2018-19.

The issue comes with O'Reilly being paid $7.5M. He needs to have a great year to be fair on your salary cap. If he has a down year, then he creates a slight drain to your salary cap and your roster. The good news though, since arriving in St. Louis he's had the three best years of his career and has created a relatively safe floor. You know what you're going to get within a 10- to 15-point range year in, year out.

His real value emerges in multi-cat pools that include some form of face-off category. Whether it is face-offs won or face off percentage O'Reilly finds himself right near the top of every pool. With 74 wins and 58.9 face off winning percentage he again found himself right at the top of the league in both categories. 

This isn't my favorite type of player to own. There's little upside to his cap hit and lots of downside. Take into consideration that Mark Scheifele offers 90-point upside at $6.125M and Patrice Bergeron point-per-game with upside at $6.875M and you can see how O'Reilly squeezes your cap situation.

Fair value is as good as it gets for O'Reilly.

Jordan Staal – Center – Carolina Hurricanes ($6M)

Fifteen years in the league, the last nine as the second line center in Carolina and Jordan Staal has hit 50-points only once.  Those 50-points came in his final season with Pittsburgh and in only 62 games in 2011-12. 

For the last eight years Staal has not been hitting his weight in salary cap. Yet, his name value has kept him permanently on the periphery of most owner's minds.

Carolina has really lacked the offensive depth to really boost Staal's production until recently. He found himself on pace for 58 points. The third time in his career he has pushed a 60-point pace or better (both shortened NHL seasons & the 50-point season cut short due to injury noted above).

Similar to O'Reilly he gains added value in multi-cat pools. With 2.5 hits per game and a face-off prowess to rival O'Reilly this was the best Jordan Staal to own in the last decade.

This is was one of the few years Staal provided fair value in points leagues. I have really mixed feelings about him moving forward. With a shot on goal rate of 1.9 per game and a shooting percentage five percent above his career average there will be some regression. I like his stat coverage in multi-cat pools, but for what is mostly a 50-point ceiling there are better ways to spend $6M.

Kyle Palmieri – Right Wing – New York Islanders ($4.65M)

Anyone else wondering how much money this season just cost Palmieri? He wasn't on pace for a catastrophic season in New Jersey's with 17 points in 34 games. It was post-trade to the New York Islanders that he fell off a cliff with four points in 17 games. In fairness, he did redeem himself somewhat in the playoffs with seven goals in 19 games.

If he had remained in New Jersey and put up a season of 26-30 points I probably select someone else in this spot. The trade to New York placed him squarely in my sights for this column. Even his long time center Travis Zajac couldn't save him. 

At 8.7 percent shooting, Palmieri shot almost four percent below his career average. His shots per game also dropped for the second year in a row, from 3.0 in 2018-19 to 2.5 and now 2.4 per game.

Where Palmieri signs this summer will make a world of difference to his production. If he re-signs with the Islanders I would be inclined to seek trade partners. He is not the solution to the Islanders lack of scoring. If he were to sign with an offensive team like Toronto (potential Zach Hyman replacement), I would be looking to buy.

He should return to that 55-point given the right situation next year.

Ryan Getzlaf – Center – Anaheim Ducks ($8.25M)

We all knew this day would come eventually. At age 36, the speed of the game noticeably passed him by this year. He looked slow all season, no matter his line-mates.

Last year he started to show his age. His foot speed started to diminish. It signaled the beginning of the end. I'm not sure we thought he would drop off so quickly though.

He put up by far the worst offensive season of his career. At 17 points in 43 games, he became waiver fodder in most leagues. At $8.25M if you were unable to drop him without a penalty he was an anchor the size of Matt Duchene. In multi-cat pools you at least received some peripheral value in hits and penalty minutes.

There is one saving grace with Getzlaf, as an unrestricted free agent his cap hit will plummet. Regardless of where he signs, whether back in Anaheim or with another team as a depth center to make a late career Cup run, he will increase dramatically in value. A 30- or 40-point player making two to three million a year becomes a decent bottom of the line up option.

I'm not predicting a renaissance for Getzlaf next year, but a return to fantasy relevance is not out of the question.

(All stats from frozentools.com, all salary information from capfriendly.com)