Salary Cap and the Playoffs

[wjag]

In yesterday's USA today, they reported: The Wings, Ducks, Flames, Devils, Rangers and Sharks are the only teams to make the playoffs every year since the salary cap was instituted. Conversely, the Coyotes, Panthers, Leafs and Kings are the only teams to miss the playoffs.

 

Wings General Manager Ken Holland had predicted that all teams would miss the playoffs at least once over the five years.

 

Another interesting tidbit was that Detroit's 2003-2004 payroll was 58M higher than the Predators.

 

Interesting... Detroit lost talent this year, could we hope?

[shrader]

In yesterday's USA today, they reported: The Wings, Ducks, Flames, Devils, Rangers and Sharks are the only teams to make the playoffs every year since the salary cap was instituted. Conversely, the Coyotes, Panthers, Leafs and Kings are the only teams to miss the playoffs.

 

Wings General Manager Ken Holland had predicted that all teams would miss the playoffs at least once over the five years.

 

Another interesting tidbit was that Detroit's 2003-2004 payroll was 58M higher than the Predators.

 

Interesting... Detroit lost talent this year, could we hope?

 

The only thing that has a chance of catching up with Detroit is their goaltending and the injury bug. With all that money they've spent on their forwards, they are very thin in net. Even with that weakness, they play so strongly in front of them that it can overcome that issue. As long as they stay relatively healthy, I can't see that strong play going away any time soon.