The New York Islanders have worst salary cap situation in NHL

The New York Islanders have the worst salary cap situation in the league, according to a recent piece in The Athletic.

In the piece, James Mirtle explores the salary cap situation for all 32 teams, ranking them based on estimated salaries for next season, RFA contracts, and dead money.

Unfortunately, the Islanders ranked last out of all 32 teams in the NHL. Let’s explore the argument for Mirtle’s observations.

Exploring why New York Islanders have worst salary cap situation in the NHL

Projected cap space for next season

The New York Islanders have a projected $9 million in cap space for next season. That cap space ranks 29th in the league. The issue here is that the Isles have an estimated $18 million bill coming up for pending RFAs.

These RFAs include Noah Dobson, Olive Wahlstrom, Maxim Tsyplakov, Simon Holmstrom, and Alexander Romanov.

That’s a hefty list. The price tag could easily exceed $18 million a year, depending on how much the Islanders value Dobson and Romanov, along with their desire to keep the other RFAs on the list.

Even with the cap potentially going up by $4 million next season, there still won’t be enough cap space to go around. The club will be forced to make some tough choices to clear enough room to fit everyone under one roof.

Looming tough free-agent choices

The two biggest UFAs this summer for the New York Islanders are Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri. Both have had solid, if unspectacular years. However, the Islanders must decide if they want to keep them past this season.

If not, trading them at the deadline would make the most sense. Additionally, Mike Reilly, Matt Martin, and Hudson Fasching are set to be UFAs this summer. Now, Martin and Fasching are on league-minimum deals.

But Nelson and Palmieri combine for $11 million. Where are the Islanders going to get the cap space to fit Nelson, Palmieri, and the other RFAs previously mentioned?

Again, even with the rumored cap jump, it won’t be enough to help the Isles fit everyone under the cap unless some cap voodoo takes place.

Poor value for money

Even if the New York Islanders could figure something out, it won’t be enough to make things right. As Mirtle points out, the Islanders are not getting their money’s worth. At the moment, the Isles are 29th in the league in goals per game at 2.50. They’re dead last on the power play with a 12.3% rate and are 31st in the league with a 7.9% shooting percentage.

These numbers underscore how little the New York Islanders’ current structure returns little value. Even with an elite tandem in Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders don’t have enough to compete in the packed Metro Division.

So, the big question is: Do the Islanders try to bring everyone back and hope for the best? Or, embrace the possibility of blowing everything up and salvaging what they can?

It’s too early to tell. But judging from the way things are going, it’s looking increasingly likely that blowing things up will be the ultimate solution.