To continue with Bubble Keeper Week, I'll write about four players that I had to drop from my salary cap league during the offseason. For some context, I had to trim my roster twice during the offseason. The first time by the end of April so that no players were left on IR, and a second time in early July to allow roster spots for players selected in the draft.

I'll play a little game with this one. Two of these four players have since been added by other teams in the league. Can you guess which players they were? Scoring categories are as follows: G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, PPP, SHP, Hit, Blk, FOW, FO%, W, GAA, SV, SV%, SHO. This is a 20-team league, with a salary cap of $114.6 million.

Jaden Schwartz (Cap Hit: $5.5 million)

A certified Band-Aid Boy for quite some time now, Schwartz reached 80 games played in 2024-25 for the first time since (looks down) the 2013-14 season. As well, his 26 goals last season was his best total since (looks down again) 2014-15. Schwartz was able to increase his shot per game average over half a shot per game to 2.4 SOG/GP, and he logged his best average icetime total (17:53) in three seasons. The 33-year-old Schwartz is also on a contract year, and I'd have to guess his cap hit decreases in 2026-27 as he attempts to secure another NHL contract.

I could see the benefits of keeping him, as he has consistently been close to the 0.5-0.6 PTS/GP range over the past five seasons. He should also be able to maintain a top-9 role with the Kraken, a team that divides its icetime and power-play time in a way that gives everyone a turn. However, I don't believe that pace provides the best bang for my buck, so to speak, especially with peripherals such as hits not all that high. Then there's the injuries, which have been frequent. This adds up to what I'd expect to be a slight downturn from his 49 points from last season.

Josh Anderson (Cap Hit: $5.5 million)

Anderson is also well-known as a Band-Aid Boy, although he may be falling off the list after playing 78 and 81 games over the last two seasons. Part of the reason for Anderson's run of injuries throughout his career is his physical style of play, which has generated at least 100 hits in each of the past five seasons. Anderson was at one time considered a desirable power forward in bangers leagues, as evidenced by his 27 goals and 214 hits (both career highs) back in 2018-19. Along with the hits, Anderson still provides penalty minutes, with his 90 PIM in 2024-25 trailing only Arber Xhekaj on the Habs.

That being said, Anderson's scoring pace has taken a nosedive since his career highs. In his two healthy seasons of 2023-24 and 2024-25, Anderson averaged a scoring pace of about 24 points or 0.3 PTS/GP. With the younger talent taking over the top 6 in Montreal, Anderson has now fallen into a bottom-6 role, which won't lend itself well to improving his scoring totals. He seems like a possible stream if you need immediate help with bangers categories, but there's no way I can justify the cap hit for his current level of scoring.

Anthony Mantha (Cap Hit: $2.5 million)

IR slots seem like a necessity in salary cap leagues, otherwise Mantha would be completely non-rosterable. Another certified Band-Aid Boy, Mantha has reached 70 games in a season just once since 2017-18. As a result, he has seen his annual salary decrease from $5.7 million to $3.5 million last season to just $2.5 million on a one-year contract with Pittsburgh for 2025-26. That seems like a worthwhile gamble for the Penguins, who don't have a ton of other forwards blocking the way. 

Remaining injury-free is the one main concern with Mantha, so the news that he is expected to be 100 percent for the start of training camp is good news. It's too bad that injuries have derailed his career, as he has never reached 50 points in a season even though he was a highly-touted first-round pick with the size (6-5, 234 lbs.) that teams salivate over at the draft. If Mantha can in fact stay healthy and secure top-6 minutes, he may get flipped at the deadline if Pittsburgh finishes where we think they will.

Ryan McDonagh (Cap Hit: $6.75 million)

McDonagh has consistently logged over 20 minutes per game dating all the way back to the 2011-12 season, so the opportunity to accumulate counting stats has always been there. McDonagh has reached 30 points in back-to-back seasons after last reaching that mark in 2018-19, so at least you could make the argument that he is worth rostering in leagues that carry 5+ defensemen (this league starts 6 D). He is also a consistent shot blocker, having reached at least 100 blocks every season dating back to 2013-14 (except for the shortened 2020-21 season). For what it's worth, he also led the league with a plus-43 in 2024-25.

McDonagh was a midseason injury replacement to my defense, but he became expendable when I added Tony DeAngelo during the offseason. McDonagh's real-life value has always exceeded his fantasy value, and at age 36 he shouldn't be expected to surprise us with anything for the remainder of his career. Add to that a $6.75 million per year price tag for a blueliner who receives minimal power-play time, and it becomes difficult to roster McDonagh in even a deep salary cap league.

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Now for the answer of which two of these players I dropped were subsequently added by other teams. You'll have to scroll down a bit, so that you didn't peek or catch it by accident.

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The two players that were added by other teams are Schwartz and Mantha. Schwartz was the highest scorer out of the group, while Mantha has the lowest cap hit of the group along with the second-highest point-per-game total (albeit in only 13 games in 2024-25). Did you guess right? Maybe I could have traded these two players before I dropped them, although my cap situation means I probably wouldn't receive much in return.

Here's my current team (Yes, I know, complete lack of superstars. I inherited this team three years ago.) Would you have dropped any of these players instead of the ones I dropped? Omit minor leaguers (Status: Min), as none of the players I dropped hold minor-league eligibility. Remaining cap compliant is a major constraint in this league, with my team currently constructed sitting just over $2 million under the cap ceiling.

Player	Team	Eligible	Status	Age	Salary
Sam Bennett	FLA	C	Act	29	8,000,000
Nick Paul	TBL	C,RW	Act	30	3,150,000
Shane Pinto	OTT	C	Act	24	3,750,000
Kevin Fiala	LAK	LW,RW	Act	29	7,875,000
Simon Holmstrom	NYI	LW,RW	Act	24	3,625,000
Rickard Rakell	PIT	LW,RW	Act	32	5,000,000
Jordan Eberle	SEA	RW	Act	35	4,750,000
Tanner Jeannot	BOS	LW,RW	Act	28	3,400,000
Jean-Gabriel Pageau	NYI	C,RW	Act	32	5,000,000
Brent Burns	COL	D	Act	40	1,000,000
Bowen Byram	BUF	D	Act	24	6,250,000
Miro Heiskanen	DAL	D	Act	26	8,450,000
Tyler Myers	VAN	D	Act	35	3,000,000
Alexander Romanov	NYI	D	Act	25	6,250,000
Jared Spurgeon	MIN	D	Act	35	7,575,000
Tony DeAngelo	NYI	D	Act	29	1,750,000
Max Domi	TOR	C,RW	Act	30	3,750,000
Jesperi Kotkaniemi	CAR	C	Act	25	4,820,000
Dakota Joshua	TOR	LW	Res	29	3,250,000
Noel Acciari	PIT	C,RW	Res	33	2,000,000
Marc Gatcomb	NYI	RW	Res	26	900,000
Alex Carrier	MTL	D	Res	28	3,750,000
Elias Pettersson	VAN	D	Res	21	838,333
Filip Bystedt	SJS	C	Min	21	918,333
Ethan Cardwell	SJS	C	Min	22	867,500
Berkly Catton	SEA	C	Min	19	942,500
Jared Davidson	MTL	C	Min	23	862,500
Rory Kerins	CGY	C	Min	23	775,000
Ryan McAllister	FLA	C	Min	23	896,667
Ty Mueller	VAN	C	Min	22	870,000
Max Sasson	VAN	C	Min	24	775,000
Otto Stenberg	STL	C	Min	20	918,333
Arshdeep Bains	VAN	LW	Min	24	775,000
Andrew Basha	CGY	LW	Min	19	865,000
Nolan Foote	FLA	LW	Min	24	775,000
Stephen Halliday	OTT	LW	Min	23	950,000
Easton Cowan	TOR	C,RW	Min	20	873,500
Jan Jenik	OTT	RW	Min	24	0
Linus Karlsson	VAN	RW	Min	25	775,000
Roger McQueen	ANA	RW	Min	18	0
Vinzenz Rohrer	MTL	RW	Min	20	950,000
Luca Cagnoni	SJS	D	Min	20	895,000
Vladimir Grudinin	CAR	D	Min	21	0
Tyson Hinds	ANA	D	Min	22	829,444
Arttu Karki	VGK	D	Min	20	0
Bogdan Konyushkov	MTL	D	Min	22	0
Kirill Kudryavtsev	VAN	D	Min	21	825,000
Henry Mews	CGY	D	Min	19	0
Cameron Reid	NSH	D	Min	18	0
Elias Salomonsson	WPG	D	Min	20	815,000
David Spacek	MIN	D	Min	22	862,500
Sergei Bobrovsky	FLA	G	Act	36	10,000,000
Petr Mrazek	ANA	G	Res	33	4,250,000
Jiri Patera	VAN	G	Min	26	775,000
Isaac Poulter	WPG	G	Min	23	775,000
Michal Pradel	DET	G	Min	18	0
Akira Schmid	VGK	G	Min	25	875,000
Nikita Tolopilo	VAN	G	Min	25	775,000

Tough choices are a fact of life in keeper leagues, with the salary cap adding another layer. But that's what makes them fun.

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Some player news in an otherwise dead period: The Red Wings have signed defenseman Travis Hamonic to a one-year, $1 million contract. Hamonic played in 59 games for Ottawa last season, recording seven points. About to turn 35 years old, Hamonic has been a sub-20 minute per game defenseman for the past few years, so this should be considered a depth add for the Wings. It may lessen the chances of 2023 first-round pick Axel Sandin-Pellikka from making the NHL roster, as both are right-shot defensemen.

Daemon Hunt has signed a one-year, two-way contract with Columbus. The 23-year-old defenseman spent post of last season in the AHL, registering 18 points in 57 games.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social