THRIFTY NHL TEAMS GET BANG FOR THEIR BUCKS IN PLAYOFFS
Being budget conscious doesn’t rule out legitimate shot at hockey’s biggest prize
It is considered priceless these days. But back in 1892, Lord Stanley of Preston purchased what is now known as the Stanley Cup for $48.67.
Based on the payroll of some of the teams vying for the trophy this year, Lord Stanley might have overpaid.
The owners of the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche or New York Islanders would not have spent top dollar for a sterling silver trophy. They would have found a cheaper alternative that sort of looks the same for half the price. After all, that’s what they’ve done in assembling their thrift-store rosters. Welcome to the extreme couponing version of the playoffs, where it’s chic to be cheap. While the first round was all about the upsets and how star-studded teams such as Tampa Bay, Calgary, Washington and Nashville all went out earlier than expected, it wasn’t just the top seeds who flamed out. It was also the top spenders. Turns out you can’t buy a championship. If you could, a Toronto Maple Leafs team that “won” the bidding war for John Tavares would still be playing. Instead, three of the five lowest-spenders are still alive. And five of the six teams with the biggest cap hits are all gone, having either failed to qualify for the playoffs or failed to advance past the opening round. Washington, which spent the second-most in the league, fell to Carolina, which spent the lowest. Colorado (29th cap hit) ousted Calgary (9th), while New York (27th) knocked off Pittsburgh (3rd) and Columbus (17th) took out Tampa Bay (10th).
On paper, it makes little sense. How are teams with so much star power not only losing, but losing to teams that could not even afford a single player who is earning more than US$6 million? And yet, you only have to look at the Edmonton Oilers to figure out why.
None of the eight remaining teams in the playoffs have a Connor McDavid-like salary on their books. Few have anything that even resembles the $8.5 million Edmonton is paying Leon Draisaitl. But they have something the Oilers lack: depth. In basketball, one or two star players can carry the offence. In hockey, you need more than that. You need four lines, plus three pairs of defence and a goalie. You can’t have all that if two of your players are earning 25 per cent of the cap.
It’s why Carolina, Colorado and New York have had such surprising success. And because the NHL is a copycat league, don’t be surprised if it has an effect on how teams go about their spending in free agency.
Why pay for more when you can get by with spending so much less?
Who needs Alex Ovechkin ($9.5 million) when you can have Justin Williams ($4.5 million), Teuvo Teravainen ($2.86 million), Sebastian Aho ($925,000) and Warren Foegele ($747,667)? A year ago, the Golden Knights took an expansion team comprised of B-list talent to the Cup final, showing the hockey world that third-line depth is more important than an all-star top line. This year, the Hurricanes, Avalanche and Islanders appear to be working off the same budget sheet.
You can’t argue with results. From McDavid and Ovechkin to Tavares and Patrick Kane, none of the top 10 individual cap hits are in the playoffs. Only Dallas’ Jamie Benn ($9.5 million) and San Jose’ Brent Burns ($8 million) are among the top 30 earners.
Jordan Staal is the highest-paid player on the Hurricanes, while Jordan Eberle and Johnny Boychuk are the highest-paid players on the Islanders. Each is earning $6 million. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado’s highest-paid player, has a $6.3-million cap hit. Compare that to the Leafs, who next year will be paying five forwards more than $6.25 million each, and likely three of them more than $11 million each. New York didn’t have a single scorer within the top 60 in the regular season. But the Islanders had eight players who each scored more than 15 goals. They also have two goalies with a combined salary that is less than half of what Montreal’s Carey Price is earning.
Of course, you eventually end up paying for success.
The Islanders will have to pay Robin Lehner, a Vezina Trophy finalist, more than the $1.5 million he earned this season. Colorado will have to give a significant pay raise to Mikko Rantanen, while Carolina needs to sign Aho (83 points) to a new deal.
But chances are they won’t break the bank to get it done. After all, if there’s one thing these playoffs are showing, it is that there’s a very steep cost in paying your stars too much money.