(Photo Credit: @GoldenKnights on X/Twitter)
The NHL’s salary cap this season is $95.5 million. The floor, or the amount teams must reach to maintain competitive balance, is $70.6 million. The team that took the ice in gold last night made a combined $43.2 million.
That’s right, without Vegas’ five Olympians and injuries to William Karlsson, Brett Howden, and Carter Hart, the Golden Knights iced a roster that used just 45% of the available salary cap.
And they won!
Not including Alex Pietrangelo, the nine players who were unavailable last night make a total of $57.4 million, a whopping 60% of a team’s salary cap. Add in Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million, and the group of missing players was just $4.4 million away from reaching the salary cap floor. VGK played with just 39% of their payroll.
Meanwhile, on the other bench, the Kings iced a roster with a combined salary of $82.6 million. Vegas played $39.4 million short of their opponent, trailed in the 3rd period, and still walked away with a multi-goal victory.
Unsurprisingly, last night’s game represented the largest amount of salary ever sidelined in VGK history. Since the expansion season, it was also the lowest expenditure on players the team has ever iced in a single game.
There is one other game that came close, though.
The date was December 28th, 2021, Game #33 on the Golden Knights’ schedule.
Injuries to Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Alec Martinez, Nolan Patrick, and Robin Lehner already had the team playing shorthanded when an important group of players tested positive for COVID. Alex Pietrangelo, Evgenii Dadonov, and Brett Howden were all ruled out for the game, leaving the team down eight regular starters.
That night, VGK were missing $45.6 million worth of players and iced a roster worth $46.6 million. Almost exactly 50% of the salary cap was unavailable, and VGK played the game with just 54% of that season’s salary cap. Like last night, they were well below the salary cap floor and took on an opponent that was essentially at full strength. That game was also the first out of a long break following Christmas.
The opponent… the Los Angeles Kings.
The location… Crypto.com Arena.
The winner… the Vegas Golden Knights.
VGK outscored the Kings 6-3, scoring five times in the first 23 minutes despite playing at a deficit of more than $25 million.
Luckily, VGK’s roster will look much more normal starting tomorrow night in Washington, DC. All five Olympians will return to the lineup, and they’ll ice a team that’s pushing $90 million.
However, if there’s ever a situation like this again, hopefully the Kings are on the schedule.
