Red Wings planning to make a move to get under cap
Ken Holland has his work cut out for him, having assembled a roster that sits almost $4 million over the salary cap.
What's more, the Detroit Red Wings general manager has yet to sign promising restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou.
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Johan Franzen and his $3.95-million cap hit can be buried on long-term injured reserve come opening night, but that's offset to a large degree by the $2.56 million on the books under a previous buyout for Stephen Weiss.
Holland, therefore, anticipates further trimming.
"If everybody is healthy when we get to opening day, we'll probably have to make a move," Holland said, according to Ansar Khan of MLive. "I'm anticipating we'll be over by a little bit."
Complicating matters is the fact no fewer than 10 Wings carry no-movement or no-trade clauses, meaning a player and his salary may need to be placed on waivers and sent to the minors.
Holland said he'd like to carry 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goaltenders, per Khan, but might be forced to go with a 21-man roster due to the cap predicament.
It's not an ideal spot for a club that missed the playoffs last season and will be in tough to contend for the postseason in 2017-18, its first year in brand new Little Caesars Arena.