When looking at the composition of one’s favorite team, it often can be said that said team has a weakness. Whether that is goalie, left defense or center, every team has these due, in large part, to the restrictive nature of the salary cap. With the cap in place and players seeking more and more money, many GM’s have holes on their roster with inadequate space to fill it with the talent they hoped for.
This brings up the topics of a player’s relative value. Even though a player who might play on the third line might not be your leading scorer or best player, if they are signed to a contract that significantly helps the team for a dollar amount that is cheaper relative to the rest of the NHL, that player’s value has increased both for the team which their play for as well as the rest of the NHL. Bargains allow for teams to allocate money for other weaknesses on their roster.
One of my favorite players of all time and current LA Kings backbone, Dustin Brown, is a perfect example of this. After coming off a tremendous playoff performance that resulted in LA winning the Stanley Cup, Dustin Brown signed a contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $5.875 million per season. For the type of player he was at that time, this seemed like a deal, allowing the Kings to continue to add talent to their roster. After several more dominate seasons and one more Stanley Cup in 2014, Dustin Brown’s statical impact suddenly left him.
Whether that was Head Coach Darryl Sutter’s usage of him or his own personal play, he began to produce sub 25 points seasons playing mostly on the third line. The once wonderful contract of $5.875 million per season turned into a burden. Rumors began to swirl on whether he would get traded in an effort to shed salary cap space and sign better forwards to shore up an already bottom tier offense. This didn’t happen and, thankfully, he has returned to the form he once showed to warrant the type of contract he has.
Another example of a player's contract creating value would be Lars Eller of the Washington Capitals. The former St. Louis Blue and Montreal Canadien, Eller was traded to the Capitals in the wake of several tumulous seasons for the Capitals. Various centers like Mike Ribero and Mikhail Grabovski were signed to provide stability and depth skill to a roster that was rather top-end heavy. In their new attempt to cement their center depth with a consistent and reliable option, the Capitals turned to Eller.
Shortly after he was traded for, Eller became part of one of the best third lines in the entire league, defending against other teams' best players and contributing offensively. In only his second year for the Capitals, he produced 38 points in a strong regular season before lighting the NHL postseason on fire with 18 points in 24 playoff games en route to the Capitals winning the Stanley Cup. This is well and above the standard for most 3rd line centers.
To put his value into a monetary perspective, Eller's 18 points ranked 13th in the entire postseason. The three players directly behind him in scoring were Nikita Kucherov, Brad Marchand, and Filip Forsberg. All of these players are 1st line stars on their respective teams and $4.766,667 million, $6.125 million, and $6 million dollars cap hit respectively compared to the $3.5 million Eller made. Even though Eller played a few more games compared to these stars, due to advancing far in the postseason, the scoring he provided offers tremendous value per dollar and is still quite impressive.
Unfortunately, one’s skill set isn’t enough to keep a player in the NHL. One prime example is Wade Redden, the former Ottawa Senator shut down defenseman. In the off-season of 2008, Redden signed with the New York Rangers on a six year $39 million dollar deal. After his first couple of seasons, in large part to how the salary cap rules were structured, Redden‘s diminishing effect on the game, and his astronomical price tag attached, Redden was waived and sent to New York’s minor league affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. He spent the remainder of his contract down in the minors In order to free up cap space for New York to improve their roster. After this contract, Redden would actually sign a one year, $1 million dollar deal with the St. Louis Blues, making his way back into the NHL with both St. Louis and Boston. While Redden had the talent to be in the NHL, his contract became enough of a burden that New York deemed his reassignment to Hartford more valuable to the team than his continued presence on the roster.
To find players that add tremendous value to your team is necessary in order to be successful. Players like Kucherov, Marchand, and Forsberg are the backbone of contending teams because of the talent they have. What separates champions from the contenders are the supporting cast you can surround your superstars with. In a Salary Cap world, where roster possibilities are limited, value contracts are becoming a premium in the NHL.
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