In June, the salary cap/contract tracking website known as CapFriendly was agreed upon to be sold to the Washington Capitals in July after the 2024 NHL Draft and free agency had been completed. It was one of the biggest cap-tracking websites in the hockey world. However, that didn’t stop the St. Louis Blues from releasing their own Blues app and website feature called ‘Contract Tracker.’
It was launched on Aug. 28 and is still operating, allowing fans to explore the different contracts throughout the Blues roster; however, let’s look at the details within this feature.
Only Shows Players on the NHL Roster
Unfortunately, the one problem with this contract tracking feature is that it is limited to the Blues’ NHL roster and players on one-way contracts. This is much more restricted than the previous CapFriendly website, which presented everything from one-way to two-way contracts and/or American Hockey League (AHL) players, as well as player depth, prospects, and draft picks.
Related: St. Louis Blues’ 3 Most Important Players for 2024-25 Season
The Blues also don’t show players that have a no-trade clause (NTC) or modified no-trade clause (M-NTC) in their contracts. That said, they show the players on unrestricted free agent (UFA) and restricted free agent (RFA) contracts. With the Blues’ multiple additions to the roster, their fans can also see how long their contracts will affect the cap.
This feature also includes the player’s acquisition date and links to more information. The detail is excellent. It also notes any re-signed players and shows how long they will be on the team.
With all the contract issues on the Blues roster and all the recent acquisitions they have made, including their recent one with Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, this is something to keep an eye on for future reference in case of any other disappointing seasons from players on long-term deals.
Using It to Better Understand the Blues’ Contract Issues and Solutions
As mentioned, the Blues have a big contract problem with their veteran defensemen. Specifically, Nick Leddy, Justin Faulk, and Torey Krug have not lived up to the value of their contracts. What is worse is that they are bonded by NTCs and M-NTCs, depending on the stipulations in their contracts.
Faulk and Krug’s contracts expire after the 2027-28 season and can’t be traded until 2025-26 when their NTCs change to M-NTCs. Krug is the primary concern here as he is going through ankle surgery for his pre-arthritic problems and will miss the 2024-25 season. Therefore, he is wasting a year of his contract, for which he will still be paid $6.5 million in average annual value (AAV). As for Faulk, he’s played reasonably well, and it would be worth it to use this contract tracker to keep an eye on how his performance is worth his $6.5 million AAV for the next two seasons.
Leddy, on the other hand, has not performed so well. His contract will expire in 2026-27, and his NTC will change to an M-NTC in 2025-26, meaning his contract and performance for this upcoming 2024-25 season will be closely watched. Last season, he did not live up to the $4 million AAV he re-signed for in 2022 when he was traded from the Detroit Red Wings, as listed on the contract tracker. Leddy had 28 points in 82 games and has not gotten over 30 points since signing with the Blues.
What the Blues’ Contract Tracker Means for the NHL Fanbase and Community
With CapFriendly, it made everything transparent for each fanbase in the NHL and gave them the privilege to see how contracts and player depth work. This is also something the NHL has disapproved of since the sale of CapFreindly in June, and they made it publically known before. In 2015, when asked about the former cap tracking website Capgeek.com, which shut down after its founder, Matthew Wuest, passed away due to colon cancer, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stated, “GMs have access to information. The tools that we have for internal business use are different, but everything we do internally for business purposes doesn’t necessarily need to be made public and be the object of discussion.”
After what Bettman confirmed, it seems like the NHL doesn’t want anyone to know anything remotely related to the cap because the more transparent it is, the more problems it causes for players and fans to know how much a player’s contract is worth and how it affects the team’s cap space. Adam Wylde of the Steve Dangle Podcast Network (SDPN) explains why the NHL is firmly against these cap-tracking websites and features in the episode “Cap Angry” at the 50:00 time stamp.
Hopefully, more fans will be open with their opinions on the cap and why they want to see it more often. The NHL can surrender its views on keeping the veil on the cap through the Capitals’ purchase of CapFriendly and prove that if they are the money and business league that it wants to perceive itself as and cares about its best interests, then it would have a cap website of its own to show how much they want to grow the NHL interests amongst the fans who are paying to watch and follow teams including the Blues. There will always be another website to track in-depth cap information, like PuckPedia, which will most likely be fans’ top cap tracking destination for now. For now, this cap tracking feature from the Blues can be a stepping stone to show that NHL teams care about their fans and want to express every aspect of their team.
