EliteProspects’ Sean Shapiro discusses the reasons why the Red Wings keep sending Marco Kasper down to the AHL on his Shap Shots blog this evening:
For starters, Kasper has not been driving back-and-forth to Grand Rapids. His AHL send-downs, “paper transactions” have been strategically done on days the Red Wings don’t have a game or practice so the Red Wings can save some cash and capital.
With Kasper’s two-way deal he makes $866,666 in salary this season when he’s in the NHL. NHL players are paid per day and with 186 days of “work” in the regular season, Kasper effectively makes just around $4659.49 per day on the NHL roster. In the AHL his salary is $82,500, meaning Kasper makes roughly $443.54 per day on those days he’s been papered down.
From a team perspective, it’s a bit of a cold and calculated way of saving every possible penny of cap space and cash. For Kasper, it’s a bit of a raw deal and something he really can’t do much about in the first year of his entry-level contract.
It’s also common practice in the NHL, with teams doing everything possible to finagle the numbers. Remember, cap space is king.
