Salary Cap Deep Dive: Detroit Red Wings

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

As we do each year, PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2026-27 season, though in a slightly different format than before.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up are the Red Wings.

2026-27

Upper Limit: $104MM
Current Cap Charge: $84,462,082
Cap Space: $19,537,918
Potential Bonuses: $3MM (most unlikely to be reached)
Dead Cap: None
Still To Sign: D Simon Edvinsson

Edvinsson’s situation probably isn’t going to be resolved anytime soon until a new GM is in place.  They certainly have the cap space to afford any type of deal.  His teammate Moritz Seider feels like the ceiling; whether that’s in terms of his cap hit ($8.55MM) or cap hit percentage at the time of signing (9.72%) remains to be seen.  A max-term deal doesn’t seem likely based on how the market has swung but it feels safe to pencil him in for something a little below Seider’s price tag.

Expiring Contracts (RFA): D Albert Johansson ($1.125MM), F Marco Kasper ($886,666 + $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses)

Kasper had a solid rookie year but his sophomore season was a struggle.  At this point, it’s hard to imagine him getting well past his freshman point mark which makes reaching his bonuses unlikely and a long-term contract even less likely.  A bridge deal around the $3MM mark seems reasonable.

Johansson was a regular last season but in a limited role.  While he’s arbitration-eligible, he doesn’t have enough of a track record to push for big bucks.  Doubling this price could be doable, however.

Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Mason Appleton ($2.9MM), D Jacob Bryson ($850K), F Andrew Copp ($5.625MM), F Alex DeBrincat ($7.875MM), D Justin Faulk ($6.5MM), G John Gibson ($6.4MM), G Daniil Tarasov ($2MM)

DeBrincat was brought in from Ottawa three summers ago to be a top-line winger and he has delivered 107 goals while not missing a single game.  He has held up his end of the bargain on a contract that has been a bargain.  Of course, in this marketplace, that’s set to change.  40-goal scorers don’t come available very often, especially ones who have hit that mark multiple times.  While he’s on the smaller side, that shouldn’t scare enough teams away to hurt his market.  DeBrincat picked a four-year pact upon being acquired to give him a chance to cash in.  He should be able to do just that with a long-term deal around $4MM or more per season than his current deal.

The hope was that Copp could fill Detroit’s long-standing number two center spot.  He has held that role at times in recent years but he hasn’t been the ideal fit as he’s more of a third option.  The market for bottom-six centers is up but it would be hard to see him commanding more than this on his next deal.  Appleton had a rough year in his first season with Detroit.  Right now, his track record suggests he could still land a contract close to this but if he has another tough year, his price might dip closer to $2MM than $3MM.

Faulk was Detroit’s key addition at the trade deadline last season.  He’s still a quality producer of secondary scoring and can play on a second pairing but he’ll also be 35 when this contract expires.  He should still be able to secure a multi-year deal around his current price tag.  Bryson projects to be a seventh defender, a role he has held for a few years now.  That should keep him at or just above the minimum salary moving forward.

Gibson didn’t have a great first year with the Red Wings but he still stabilized their goaltending which is what he was brought in to do.  Still, at this point of his career, he’s more of a lower-end starter and the price tag for those goalies is a little below what he’s making now.  Tarasov comes over from Florida in free agency and feels like a placeholder before Michal Postava moves into a full-time NHL role in 2027-28.  Given that Tarasov has been a lower-end backup for a few years now, he’ll likely stay around this price point down the road.

2027-28

Projected Upper Limit: $113.5MM
Current Cap Charge: $50,300,416 (13 players signed)
Cap Space: $63,199,584
Potential Bonuses: $2MM (most unlikely to be reached)
Dead Cap: None

Cap space won’t be an issue for the next GM.  Yes, Edvinsson will be expensive but there will still be plenty of room to afford a long-term contract for DeBrincat, re-sign or replace Gibson and Faulk, and fill out the rest of the roster.

Expiring Contracts (RFA): F Michael Brandsegg-Nygard ($953,750 + $500K in ‘A’ bonuses), F Nate Danielson ($909,166 + $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses), F Emmitt Finnie ($921,667), D Axel Sandin Pellikka ($940,833 + $500K in ‘A’ bonuses)

Brandsegg-Nygard got his feet wet in North America and impressed in the minors but faltered in the NHL.  It seems likely he’ll get a chance to play a bigger role this season but unless he’s established as a top-six forward but the time his contract ends, he profiles as a bridge deal candidate.  Some bonuses could be achievable if he’s a full-time top-six player but otherwise, they’re unlikely to be hit.

Danielson held his own in his first taste of NHL action, though in a very limited role.  Like Brandsegg-Nygard, he’ll need to be a top-six piece two years from now to get a long-term deal, something that seems unlikely (also making his bonuses doubtful to be hit).  The fact he can play down the middle will help his value but it’s hard to see him passing $3MM on a bridge deal at this time.  Finnie was a positive surprise, locking down a full-time spot in his rookie year, primarily in the top six.  If he can build on that, he could bypass a bridge deal and aim for something in the $6MM to $7MM range.  Failing that, a bridge pact would be around half of that range.

Sandin Pellikka didn’t spend much time in the minors last season, instead getting into 68 games with Detroit.  If he takes some strides forward offensively as expected, he could be looking to the deals signed by Brandt Clarke ($7.4MM per season) and Pavel Mintyukov this summer ($7.2MM) as potential comparables.  If not, a short-term second deal around the $4MM mark could be his landing spot.

Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Viktor Arvidsson ($5MM), D Jacob Bernard-Docker ($1.6MM), F J.T. Compher ($5.1MM), F Keegan Kolesar ($2.5MM), F Michael Rasmussen ($3.2MM)

Like Copp, Compher was another attempt to shore up Detroit’s center situation.  Also like Copp, it hasn’t gone as planned.  He has played like more of a third liner than a second liner over the last two seasons.  Once again like Copp, the center market being what it is means that he could still land another deal in this price range even if he remains more of a third option.  Arvidsson had a solid bounce-back performance last season in Boston to the point where it’s a little surprising he didn’t secure a more lucrative deal this summer.  If he stays in the 50-point range (and that’s a big if given the two preceding years), he should fare at least a little better next time out.

Rasmussen certainly hasn’t lived up to his draft billing as a top ten pick in 2017.  He is a serviceable bottom-six forward who hasn’t played much down the middle in recent years which hurts his value a bit.  Still, with how things went for some physical players in free agency this summer, a small raise for Rasmussen still feels likely, even if his offensive production continues to be rather limited.  Kolesar comes over in a cap-clearing move from Vegas and is a very physical fourth liner.  That will work in his favor given what we saw this summer.  A jump past $3.5MM on another multi-year deal feels like a given at this point.

2028-29

Forecasted Upper Limit: $123MM
Current Cap Charge: $29.175MM (4 players signed)
Cap Space: $93.825MM
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: None

Things are pretty wide open at this point cap-wise, even as deals for Edvinsson and others cut into this.  There will be more than ample room for whoever takes over as GM to re-sign the young RFA core, keep the veterans, and replace the others externally.

Expiring Contracts (RFA): None

Expiring Contracts (UFA): D Ben Chiarot ($3.85MM)

Chiarot accepted a pay cut of nearly $1MM per season to extend with Detroit last season.  He’s still logging top-four minutes but given that he’s 35, they will likely try to cut that back before too long.  If he secures another contract going into his age-38 season, it’s hard to imagine him securing much more than this when he’ll likely be a third-pairing option.Read more