The idea of dumping players’ contracts around the NHL has become a common practice amongst teams that want to free up some money in hopes of acquiring someone different or finding the funds to re-sign their players. Whatever the reason, it has become expected that contending teams will look to move contracts that haven’t panned out well in hopes of having more to spend.
Related: 4 Teams That Could Acquire Edmonton Oilers’ Cody Ceci
The Edmonton Oilers are coming off of a strong season where they were one game away from winning the Stanley Cup, the Montreal Canadiens are close to being playoff contenders again, and the Washington Capitals have been big spenders this offseason in hopes of making a run for their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. Those three teams all have something in common, and it’s that they have contracts that could be dumped or moved off of their books for different reasons, in hopes of having more money to spend on the trade market or in free agency. In this article, we will look at three cap dump candidates for the 2024-25 season.
Evander Kane
The first candidate is Oilers’ forward Evander Kane, who has two years remaining on his contract worth $5.125 million. The Oilers’ run to the postseason after a rough start to their 2023-24 campaign was fun for fans, but they couldn’t get it done and lost in seven games to the Florida Panthers. With that being said, the Oilers have shifted their focus onto improving their team for the upcoming season, and have done a fantastic job of bringing back who they needed to and bringing in new players to fill roles. With Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson bolstering their forward depth, the team still needs to bolster their defensive depth to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final.
To be able to do that, first, they have to try and clear up some cap space and make a trade. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to do that as of yet and as of right now, they will be heading into the new season with the same defensive core. Cody Ceci’s name has been thrown around as a trade candidate after his weak defensive play last season, but Kane likely has more value to a contending team. His defensive game is weak, but his offensive strengths could give the Oilers a decent return while clearing up enough money to bolster their lineup defensively. Skinner and Arvidsson would be able to replace Kane’s offensive impact and would almost certainly have more impact defensively.
Carey Price
The second candidate is long-time Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, who isn’t going to be playing any more games in the NHL due to injury, but he has three seasons remaining on his massive $10.5 million contract. While the Canadiens could simply put Price on long-term injury reserve (LTIR) and save the money themselves to spend, they would be limited to only spending their own money before reaching into the extra $10.5 million coming from Price’s deal. While that doesn’t sound hard and may sound like it’s easy to bring in enough players to reach the cap space limit before reaching into their LTIR money, the Habs currently have over $10 million available and essentially have their entire team ready to go for the new season. With that said, it could be smarter for them to move Price to a different team looking for cap space, in exchange for some draft picks or a prospect.
T.J. Oshie
T.J. Oshie is in the final season of his massive contract worth $5.75 million, and he could be another player who may not play another game in the NHL due to injury. He and the Capitals could be in the same boat as Price and the Canadiens in the sense that they could look to move his contract in hopes of having more access to salary cap funds this season, but the Capitals are already $14 million over the cap before placing anybody on injured reserve. While Nicklas Backstrom may be placed on LTIR as well and the two players will be enough to permit the Capitals to reach into their LTIR pool, they could still look to move Oshie for a prospect or a draft pick if he won’t play again, and use the asset from an Oshie trade to flip it for another depth player.
Kane, Price and Oshie would have to approve trades since they all have trade protection in their contracts. With Price not playing again, I don’t think that would be much of an issue for him, and Oshie is in the same boat. Kane may only accept a deal if it’s to a contending team which would make it a little tougher to pull off for the Oilers, but with how strong their forward group is and with Kane’s role likely decreasing in Edmonton, he could choose to accept a trade to get more ice time regardless of where he’s moved.
All three players could be moved for different reasons and traded in different scenarios. The Oilers are looking to free up money to spend at the 2025 Trade Deadline, the Canadiens wouldn’t be able to spend the extra money that comes from Price being placed on injured reserve, and the Capitals could use an asset from an Oshie trade to acquire someone more productive. While they aren’t the only players who could be moved this season for money-related reasons, they seem like the three most likely candidates when it comes to being traded.
