Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon posted a column which discusses the respective situations of 7 teams that “could weaponize” their remaining salary cap space, and the Red Wings make Dixon’s list.
As you know by now, I don’t believe that the Wings should spend all their cap space in one year, given that the salary cap will remain stagnant for at least the next 2-to-3 years, but I’ll be the first to admit that anything can happen with Steve Yzerman at the Wings’ helm:
Detroit Red Wings
Cap space: $15,238,611Detroit has the potential to be the league’s one true dumping ground. (That sounds awful; it’s actually not.)
In the midst of a long rebuild that has, thus far, not been aided by any draft lottery luck, GM Steve Yzerman has already made one shrewd, salary-related move by taking defenceman Marc Staal and his $5.7-million cap hit from the Rangers, while getting New York to toss in a pretty tasty 2021 second-rounder.
Its lack of lottery fortune means Detroit doesn’t have anyone in the fold who figures to need a big raise coming off an entry-level deal in the next couple of years, though the Wings do need to hammer out a new deal with RFA Anthony Mantha. The Illitch family spent whatever was required when its teams — the Red Wings and Detroit Tigers — were chasing championships. Cutting some cheques with the Wings now at their nadir could also help.
Continued; would you “weaponize” all the Wings’ cap space this offseason, or save some for a rainy day?
