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Finding the Next Cap Bargain (Published Oct 25, 2012)
Cap bargain players are easy to find. Some are young players on entry-level deals, and others are late
bloomers who are hitting their stride. In most leagues, you can find some cheap quality labor to fill your
last few roster spots on the waiver wire and give your team some space under your league’s cap ceiling.
Unfortunately, most of these players will be due for a contract renewal within a year or two with most
of them due for a raise.
Given that your cap bargains will not retain their affordable salary for long, you may be forced to make
moves down the road to keep your team within the league constraints. More importantly, you will have
to find new cap bargain players to replace those who are no longer helping you. This article will focus on
how to obtain the next cap bargains to help keep the core of your team intact.
Prospect Draft
Obviously, the prospect draft is an important tool when building your keeper league teams. In addition
to providing your team with new talent, these players begin their professional careers on entry-level
contracts, many of which are extremely affordable. The cap discount generally does not apply to the
high NHL draft picks though. Consider some recent rookie contract examples:
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - $3,775,000
• Tyler Seguin - $3,550,000
• Mark Scheifele - $1,594,167
• Mikael Granlund - $2,100,000
• Ryan Murray - $3,525,000
This is why your later picks are even more important because you have an opportunity to find some
quality lesser-hyped prospects who are a step down from the elite but can contribute at a much lower
cost. Here are a few examples:
• Gustav Nyquist - $875,000
• Charlie Coyle - $975,000
• Brandon Saad - $894,167
• Brendan Smith - $875,000
• Marcus Foligno - $900,000
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