Can Teams with Salary Cap Space Broker Sign and Trades?

For those who don’t know me, I come from the wild and wacky world a professional wrestling so there’s always a storyline, a gimmick, and an ending. In this article, I’m gonna write a storyline for the 2023-2024 National Hockey League season. 

I have a conspiracy theory. Teams with a ton of salary cap space leftover could sign some of these unrestricted free agents to one year contracts that will be able to fit underneath the salary cap at the trade deadline.

Those teams out of contention could trade these players and get assets to improve their own team and stockpile either picks or prospects. This will allow teams like the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, or the Seattle Kraken to squeeze a sniper or shutdown defenseman going into the playoffs. 

Some of the converted names left are Vladimir Tarasenko, Tomas Tatar, Ethan Bear, and Matt Dumba. With the salary cap putting the squeeze on teams this offseason, every team is trying to make the most of their cap space. Let’s say the Nashville Predators sign Tatar to a modest $2.5 million deal and allow him to play. Say they get a call from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline with $600,000 in salary cap space.

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The Preds are able to say ok here’s the deal; Zac Jones and a third round pick for Tatar. Bam a young top 6 defender goes to the Predators along with a valuable third round pick by just having a rental at the beginning of the season rather than at the end. 

The Blackhawks could sign Bear and use him as an established defenseman for the first 40 games similar to what the Anaheim Ducks did with John Klingberg. It will be obvious they are much improved but in the big picture they are better off when a team like the New Jersey Devils call and offer one of their prospects that has upside. Team like this get value from these players because they used cap space they had just sitting around. 

Lots of deals are brokers behind the scenes, and we never know how they happen. These could take place where one GM calls another and just says sign this guy I owe you one. One turns out to be a can’t miss prospect. The other side of the deal turns out to be the final piece of a Stanley Cup Championship team. It is all because the salary cap in the NHL is crushing the contenders right now.

There are are 80 something days left till we see Predators hockey. Who knows what wagon they can hitch to before the start of the season where they can flip him in the end.