Washington Capitals By The Minute

The average shift in the NHL should be less than a minute.  What does a team get for its minute of ice time?  How much is that worth? Here's a look at the Caps' salaries per minute of ice time at the eve of the trade deadline.

A chart like this makes two realities of NHL life stand out:  the effect of injuries and the value of young players on entry level contracts.  Poti being at the top of this list isn't really an indictment of the contract that he's on right now, since he didn't have much of an injury history when first signed by the Caps, but it sure makes his recent extension look bad.  That is a lot of money going to a guy who hasn't been able to consistently stay in the lineup over the last few years.  On the other hand, Alzner and Carlson look great on this chart.  Is one minute of Tom Poti's playing time really worth more than ten times as much as one minute of John Carlson?  Of course not.  But a healthy Tom Poti would have been down around $2,000-$2,500 per minute this year, and he'll be around $1,500-$2000 per minute next year if he plays all year.  That's 3-4 times what Carlson and Alzner make.

Injuries and rookies aside, this chart otherwise seems just about fair.  The stars and skill players are at the top, the NHL regular role players are in the middle, and the unproven or AHL players are at the bottom.  Of course there is one obvious, and glaring exception: DJ King.  The chart brings home quite how little value the Caps received over the course of the season from King.  On the other hand, the man who has actually filled the enforcer's skates this season looks fantastic, again, in this chart.  Matt Hendricks, where would this team be without you?  For all that one might grouse about trading SDR for King, signing Hendricks soon afterwards was a great move by GM McPhee.