Latest news with #capspace
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Edmonton Oilers with last ditch plan to aquire most valuable asset of all, insider says
The Edmonton Oilers have already done much this summer, signing star d-man Evan Bouchard, moving out Viktor Arvidsson and Evander Kane for cap space, and signing forwards Andrew Mangianpane and Curtis Lazar. But they're still in pursuit of that most valuable of all assets in the modern NHL: cap space. At least it's the most valuable asset if you're a top team already, pressed up against the cap, and trying to figure out how you can upgrade your team both in the short term and the long term, such as the coming 2026 NHL trade deadline. It's extra cap space that brought Edmonton Jake Walman and brought Florida Brad Marchand and Seth Jones at the 2025 deadline. That cap space came through key players being injured late in the season, allowing Edmonton and Florida to bring in more salary at the trade deadline, but if the NHL cracks down on that practice for the 2026 playoffs, building up cap space through careful cap management through the season will become all important in any team's Stanley Cup hopes. No careful management, no star goalie or top forward for the Oilers at the 2026 deadline, you know what I mean? The Oilers are looking forward to that eventuality, hoping to build up cap space this season, as team insider Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now, described on today's show. Said Stauffer: 'The Oilers, I think, are gonna try to find a way to have a little bit of cap space from the opening day of the season. Right now, they got about $150,000, and I'm thinking they're gonna try to find a way to get in the $1.5 to $2 million range, and if they can do that, then it accrues during the course of the year and multiply it basically by four (at the time of the trade deadline), and away you go.' Of course, Edmonton could get cap space by going with a tight roster as they did last year, limiting the number of players on the NHL roster to 20, 21 or 22, not the full 23-player allowed. It might be difficult to pull off that this season, as Ty Emberson or Troy Stecher would likely be scooped up if they were sent to the minors, meaning the team needs to go with seven d-men, and the same could well apply to forwards David Tomasek and/or Noah Philp. Edmonton could well go with a 22-man roster, with one extra forward and one extra d-man on the roster, but it's hard to imagine them running tighter than that. So how to find that extra cap space? Stauffer is talking about $1.35 to $1.85 million here. If the Oilers traded Adam Henrique and his $3 million per salary and replaced him with a player earning $1 million per that would get the team an additional $2 million in cap space. But Henrique still has much to offer, and has even been talked about playing as a top line winger with Connor McDavid. If Henrique was bought out, the Oilers would pay him $1 million this year and next year, bringing the team a $2 million cap saving this year, but an extra $1 million cap hit the following year, 2026-27. Mattias Janmark makes $1.45 million this year and next. If he was traded, and replaced by a player making the NHL minimum such as Philp or Curtis Lazar, Edmonton would save $630,000 in cap hit this year and next year. Of course, I can't read Stauffer's mind to know what the plan is — and maybe he only knows the goal of the plan and not the details — but the best bet for the Oilers would be to move out Janmark for a younger, more aggressive player. Janmark has a 10-team no-trade list so moving him might be difficult, but not impossible. He still has value as checker and penalty killer, but his cap space is likely more valuable to the Oilers, especially as the Oilers accrue space as the season goes along, getting ready to bring in a top player early in the winter of 2026.
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Lakers battling Bucks for Ayton
1) Free-agent crop. This year's class isn't exactly reminding us of 2010 when teams cleared cap space to pursue LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amar'e Stoudemire and Chris Bosh. It doesn't even have a Joe Johnson in it. The true headliners of this free-agency class include Myles Turner, a 40-year-old Chris Paul and the recently bought-out Deandre Ayton. Dorian Finney-Smith and Nickeil Alexander-Walker being two of the bigger potential gets in free agency kind of proves that point. They're good role players. But those might be two of the biggest headlines we get in the first week. 2) Lack of cap space. The Brooklyn Nets have a lot of cap space, and then it takes a lot of finagling and massaging of the cap to clear space with other teams. A few teams, such as Portland and maybe Utah, could make trades to get themselves under the cap, but we're just looking at Brooklyn, depending on what the Nets do with their free agents. Why don't any teams have cap space? Well… 3) Everybody is looking toward 2026. The hope for a lot of teams is probably that Luka Dončić won't be impressed by what the Lakers are doing and decline to sign the extension that will likely be available to him on Aug. 2. From there, he'll at least test the waters of free agency in 2026, and then they can pounce with their pitches. I'm assuming a lot of them will include how bad Nico Harrison is and how they'd never be like him. Have to play to your audience! Anyway, teams have positioned themselves to have flexibility in 2026. Trae Young could also be a free agent then, if he wants, as can a lot of other top or significant players in the league. 4) Trades are kind of the wave for change now. The Paul George situation from 2024 was kind of fluky. As we've seen already this summer, trades are the big way of making changes to your roster. Kevin Durant to Houston. Kristaps Porziņģis to Atlanta. Desmond Bane to Orlando. And a lot more deals reshaping rosters. That's the way, at least this summer, to make things happen.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Who is the odd man out when it comes to the Boston Celtics clearing more cap space?
The Boston Celtics are not trading Jaylen Brown or Derrick White, so who is the odd man out when it comes to clearing more cap space? The Celtics front office has been cutting salary by trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis from the team's 2024 title core as they seek to get ahead of the second apron restrictions on team building and a potentially historic tax bill. Now under that second apron, we are hearing rumbles that Boston is not yet done making moves, presumably to sign veteran big men Al Horford and Luke Kornet back to the team out of free agency. So which players under team control could soon see themselves calling another city home? Advertisement The folks behind the "WEEI Boston's Sports Original" YouTube channel put together a clip from their "Jones and Keefe" show to talk over which of the players still on the team (or recently added to it) might be on the move for some cap relief. Check it out below! This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Who is the odd man out when it comes to Celtics clearing more cap?
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How should the Nets use their cap space for the 2025 NBA offseason?
The Brooklyn Nets head into the 2025 NBA offseason with the most cap space in the league by far, giving them the opportunity to do whatever they want from a financial perspective. The simplest use of cap space is to use the money to sign free-agents, but there is a chance for Brooklyn to use the space they have to do more than just bring in players. "General manager Sean Marks needs to throw that weight around like he means it," Bleacher Report's Dan Favale wrote when discussing the Nets and their salary cap situation. There have been various projections introduced since the February trade deadline for the 2024-25 season, but the Nets are projected to have somewhere between $40 million and $50 million in cap space while the next-closest team (Detroit Pistons) is expected to have around $25 million. Advertisement "And as a reminder: Cap space isn't just for free agency. The Nets can use their financial runway to facilitate blockbuster deals or salary dumps in exchange for picks and prospects," Favale continued. "Asset accumulation is the one and only goal. If the Nets think they can drive up the price tag on rival free agents like Jonathan Kuminga (restricted), Myles Turner or Naz Reid (player option), then have at it." To Favale's point, Brooklyn has the opportunity to not only be able to sign any free-agent they want because of their spending power, but could take advantage of their surplus of cap space compared to the rest of the league. The Nets are projected to have twice as much cap space as the next-closest team and there are teams like the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns who would like to shed salary so that they can have access to the mechanisms that can allow them to improve their teams, but are restricted by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Brooklyn is coming off a 26-56 record during the 2024-25 season so the team isn't close to being a contender anytime soon, meaning they will have to use as many of their assets to close that gap as possible. The Nets also have five draft picks to use in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft and even with that, they could use some of those draft picks to target specific players or entice teams to give them something they want in exchange for cost-controlled talent. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: How should the Nets use their cap space for the 2025 NBA offseason?
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Seahawks' 3 largest 2025 cap hits: offense
The Seattle Seahawks are currently equipped with $31.2 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap. General manager John Schneider has built a well-balanced squad, with no player scheduled to carry a charge larger than $15 million in 2025. Having analyzed the financial situation, we've identified Seattle's three-largest scheduled cap charges on offense heading into the new season. Noah Fant, TE Veteran tight end Noah Fant is currently slated to carry the Seahawks' largest cap charge on offense at $13.4 million. The Seahawks have drafted tight ends in consecutive drafts in AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo. Fant is entering a contract year and likely doesn't factor into the team's 2026 plans. Sam Darnold, QB The Seahawks signed new starting quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract in free agency. Darnold's cap number is a very manageable $13.4 million this season, though he's set to explode to $33.9 million in 2026 and $44.9 million in 2027. The upcoming campaign will be the lone one Seattle gets a huge discount on its QB's cap number. Cooper Kupp, WR Cooper Kupp joined the Seahawks via a three-year, $45 million deal following his release from the Los Angeles Rams. Kupp's cap number is just $9.3 million this season, scheduled to nearly double to $17.5 million in 2024. The Seahawks could release the aging wideout prior to the completion of his three-year agreement though. This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: 2025 Seahawks: 3 largest cap hits on offense
