Cap Compliance Cup

A while ago, I watched a video by Hybrid Icing where he talks about a TSN feature where they brought on Lawrence Gillman (a Salary Cap guru) and had him break down cap numbers for each position on a hockey team (said video can be seen here).

I did something similar to that, but instead of capping each position, I capped each line.  I also based the numbers on a $78.9 million dollar cap for 2018-19, and I took my best guess when it came to signing free agents.  Each roster is 13 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goalies.

You can, of course, spend less than that (which I did to forecast re-signing players), but not more to stay within the budget and didn't "borrow" totals from other columns to cheat.

The first team I created I called the "North Bay Centennials."  Here's how it worked out:

Subtract line total from the cap:

And viola!  A cap savings of $1.2 million and change on the first line alone!  Now for the rest of the forwards.

And subtract from the cap:

And now, I do the same with the defense and goaltending:

A savings of just under $10 million.  That's not as impressive as it sounds as there are plenty of players that need to be re-signed at the end of the year.  Add to the fact that there is never a guarantee that the cap will go up.

The North Bay Centennials certainly look competitive.  But how do they compare against their rivals an hour west on Highway 17?

May I present the Sudbury Wolves!

Wow!  Pretty evenly matched.  But now we need some American content.  Introducing, the Cleveland Steamers!

Notice how far under budget I am for the first line and defensive pair, in order to leave room for Laine and McAvoy when they're contracts are up.


And for the final team, the Hershey Squirts!

That's 4 pretty competitive teams!  And fiscally responsible too!  So which team do you think would win in a tournament?  I'd find out myself, but I don't have an Xbox or a PS4.