The recent signings have made the Caps’ salary cap picture a little clearer. Here is an updated look at the team’s finances.
SEE RELATED:
FORWARDS
Alex Ovechkin, $9,538,462
Michael Nylander, $4,875,000
Alexander Semin, $4,600,000
Sergei Fedorov, $4,000,000
Chris Clark, $2,633,333
Viktor Kozlov, $2,500,000
Nicklas Backstrom, $2,400,000*
Brooks Laich, $2,066,667
Donald Brashear, $1,200,000
Matt Bradley, $1,000,000
Eric Fehr, $735,000
Boyd Gordon, $725,000
Tomas Fleischmann, $725,000
David Steckel, $512,500
Ben Clymer, $250,000
Total = $37,760,962
DEFENSEMEN
Mike Green, $5,250,000
Tom Poti, $3,500,000
Karl Alzner, $1,675,000*
Milan Jurcina, $881,250
Jeff Schultz, $750,000
Sami Lepisto, $700,000
John Erskine, $537,500
SHAONE MORRISONN, RFA
Total = $13,293,750
GOALTENDERS
Jose Theodore, $4,500,000
Brent Johnson, $812,500
Total = $5,312,500
TEAM TOTAL (23 PLAYERS) = $56,367,212
I have left Brian Pothier’s $2,500,000 off this list because GM George McPhee said last week that he is already on long-term injured reserve and yesterday he said he’s planning his budget for now as if Pothier is not going to be ready to play when camp starts.
So, that leaves the Caps with a little less than $333,000 under the salary cap. Obviously Shaone Morrisonn will cost more than that. But any team can be over the cap by as much as 10 percent until the season opens, so McPhee doesn’t have to be in a rush to shed salary. Also, remember that he said earlier in the summer that he doesn’t want to carry more than seven (and maybe even six) defensemen. If the Caps are right up against the cap, they might not carry 13 forwards some days either.
It could be tricky considering very few of these guys can be sent to Hershey without going through waivers (Backstrom, Alzner, Schultz and Lepisto are the only ones by my count). It is also fair to say there are going to be a few jobs on the line when training camp convenes in mid-September.
