Dan Bylsma isn’t concerned about Seattle’s tight cap situation— in fact, he’s encouraged by it.
As of Thursday morning, the Kraken are $1,599,046 over the league’s $88 million cap hit with 14 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goaltenders (23 players in total) on their preseason roster. Seattle must be cap-compliant before puck drop on October 8.
On paper, who stays and who goes is simple.
Seen skating consistently as a third-line center during training camp, it’s clear that the final spot left in Seattle’s lineup is Shane Wright’s. Tye Kartye is wrestling with an ailment that’s kept him off the ice the past two days, allowing Ryan Winterton the opportunity to replace him against the Edmonton Oilers. But he, John Hayden, Cale Fleury, and Josh Mahura didn’t crack the lineup and now round out the team’s depth. That’s $2,378,000 hovering between the AHL and NHL.
These are the salaries that the Kraken are expected to move first– in fact, Seattle reassigned Fleury Thursday morning. Mahura, Hayden, and Winterton aren’t crucial to the roster’s integrity. But if Seattle prefers not to hit the trade market, slipping under the cap will demand shedding at least two of them, leaving the Kraken with only one scratch at the ready to replace injured skaters.
Injuries are already making their presence known five days before puck drop on the regular season.
Despite never officially being labeled as injured, Vince Dunn didn’t debut in the preseason until the penultimate game, and often skated independently of main practice groups. André Burakovsky, who donned a red no-contact jersey for “precautionary” reasons, usually joined him. And Jared McCann is day-to-day, pulled from Wednesday night’s roster during warm-ups with a lower-body injury.
With Bylsma aware of McCann’s injury prior to the game, Hayden may already have been prepared to jump into action at the last minute. Late in the middle frame, it was Hayden’s dish to Brandon Montour at Edmonton’s blueline that helped the defenseman score and kickstart a Kraken comeback– they’d just surrendered a two-goal lead.
Seattle took their last exhibition game 6-2.
Without Hayden on standby, that transition wouldn’t have been so seamless. One can see how it would be tough for Bylsma to balance tactical and financial interests as he finalizes the opening night roster– those interests aren’t always compatible.
But for the head coach, that juggling act is a non-issue. At least now, dealing with only minor injuries.
“In managing a team and getting the right players in here, well, it has put us in a close cap situation,” Bylsma acknowledged Wednesday morning. “I don’t know if it’s uncomfortable, but there are some situations you have to manipulate and manage when it comes to being this close to the cap.”
“It’s not an uncomfortable situation for me. It means we got good players and good people and good spots.”