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It was a bad time for Adam Erne<\/a> to hit the open market as a free agent for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n Under normal circumstances, at 28 years old and with 355 NHL<\/a> games played between Tampa Bay<\/a> and Detroit<\/a>, Erne would have been offered a modest one- or two-year deal by a handful of teams to serve as a depth winger.<\/p>\n Forget having a choice. Erne didn\u2019t get much interest in his services for weeks after July 1.<\/p>\n \u201cA couple years ago, I think I would have got a deal fairly easily,\u201d Erne said. \u201cBut times have changed.<\/p>\n \u201cGuys like me get squeezed a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n It took until Sept. 12, a week before training camps opened around the league, for the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> to extend Erne an invitation to try out for a job. He was sold by the Oilers that he had the potential to be an important fourth-line option on a contending team.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n GO DEEPER<\/p>\n Re-drafting the NHL class of 2020: St\u00fctzle goes No. 1, Nikishin rises dramatically<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Though Erne managed to earn a two-way contract with an NHL<\/a> minimum salary of $775,000, that he had to wait until a few days after the regular season commenced to sign it only further underscored a leaguewide problem.<\/p>\n The salary cap increased by just $1 million to $83.5 million for the 2023-24 season, representing the second straight increase of that amount after staying flat for the previous two offseasons.<\/p>\n That\u2019s made it challenging for NHL general managers to put together functional rosters since the pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first year here (in Edmonton) in \u201919-20, we did a 23-man roster \u2014 and we saved enough money for two call-ups,\u201d Oilers GM Ken Holland said. \u201cSo, let\u2019s call it a 25-man roster.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the cap doesn\u2019t move, you\u2019re forced to decide which player you want to keep. You have to let other players go. That\u2019s the downside. The upside is there\u2019s 10 to 15 teams that are in the same boat as we are.\u201d<\/p>\n Teams have had it rough, to be sure.<\/p>\n The Oilers were forced to start the season with a 21-man roster due to cap constraints and were required to have injured defensemen Mattias Ekholm<\/a> and Markus Niemelainen on it. Erne had to wait for Niemelainen to be healthy enough to be waived for the purposes of a demotion to the minors before he could put pen to paper and officially join the Oilers.<\/p>\n The Oilers were one of four teams \u2014 along with the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>, Los Angeles Kings<\/a> and Ottawa Senators<\/a> \u2014 that were unable to dress 18 skaters for their season-opening games.<\/p>\n Depth players are the most affected group. Twenty teams set their season-opening roster with fewer than 23 players on it, the maximum allowed under NHL rules. That\u2019s the highest total since the pandemic.<\/p>\n Eight of those teams had rosters of 21 players or even 20 \u2014 which has typically been the bare minimum teams could carry.<\/p>\n In all, that\u2019s 29 players out of the NHL who in the past would have been in it.<\/p>\n Last season, 15 teams submitted opening rosters with fewer than 23 players, resulting in 25 unfilled spots throughout the league.<\/p>\n Two years ago, that number was just 10 teams with only 15 vacancies.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the current CBA to not contemplate almost four years with a relatively flat cap, that teams would be in this situation shows a tremendous lack of foresight,\u201d prominent player agent Allan Walsh said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really think (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman cares whether a team has 21 or 23 players on their roster. But the players care, and the NHLPA should care, and every agent should care. These are lost jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s resulted in a substantial loss of income in a finite career for many of those 29 affected.<\/p>\n Players on one-way contracts make the same salary in the big leagues as they do in the minors. (Oddly enough, they actually take home more money in the lower level because there\u2019s no escrow deducted from their paycheques in the AHL.)<\/p>\n However, most players in this situation are on two-way deals, which carry a much lower salary when a player isn\u2019t in the NHL, resulting in a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars each season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge issue \u2014 not just for (current) NHL players, but it\u2019s a huge issue for guys that played in the NHL the previous years and can\u2019t even find a job right now,\u201d agent Phil Lecavalier said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s impacting players of various ages and levels of experience this season.<\/p>\n There are those like Erne and former Oiler Jujhar Khaira who were once established bottom-of-the-lineup players. It took Khaira until Sept. 17 to sign a two-way deal with the Minnesota Wild<\/a>. He was waived and sent down to their minor-league affiliate before the season began, dropping his salary from $775,000 to $300,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of Lecavalier\u2019s clients is Raphael Lavoie, a 23-year-old winger in the Oilers organization. Lavoie completed his three-year, entry-level contract without having played a single game in the NHL but scored 21 of his 25 AHL goals last season in the second half.<\/p>\n Requiring waivers for the first time in his career, Lavoie was in the running for a spot on the big club in training camp. He didn\u2019t make it<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Oilers were planning to break camp with 12 forwards and 11 of the jobs were accounted for. Holland said he didn\u2019t feel Lavoie was ready to be an everyday player on a team with Stanley Cup aspirations and risked putting him on waivers because of it.<\/p>\n So Lavoie was waived, cleared and demoted to AHL Bakersfield.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is preventing him from playing in the NHL right now,\u201d Lecavalier said. \u201cHe\u2019s capable of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Holland added that had the Oilers started the season with an extra forward or two \u2014 14 forwards used to be the norm \u2014 Lavoie would have almost certainly been with the Oilers today. The ideal scenario would have been to work Lavoie into the lineup as merited while giving him the opportunity to practice and train with NHL superstars like Connor McDavid<\/a> and Leon Draisaitl<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the offseason, Lavoie accepted his qualifying offer from the Oilers, which came with a higher NHL salary but a lower AHL stipend. Lavoie would have been pulling in $874,125 in the NHL, almost $100,000 more than the minimum. His minor-league salary, however, is just $70,000 \u2014 substantially lower than if he had not taken his QO. Lavoie bet on himself that he\u2019d be an NHLer with the Oilers or someone else.<\/p>\n And being in the NHL has its perks.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m the 14th (forward), I would love that job,\u201d journeyman forward Brad Malone said. \u201cIf they told me that I\u2019m 14 all year and I just have to come and work hard and be here, bring a good attitude every day, I\u2019d be like, \u2018Yeah, sounds good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Malone is a different type of player iced out of the league right now.<\/p>\n He\u2019s Bakersfield\u2019s captain and so synonymous with the AHL team that he has a house in the California city and has lived there for the past two summers with his wife, Bryelle, and two children Banks and Cali.<\/p>\n But Malone, 34, is more than a career minor leaguer. He\u2019s played 217 NHL games, most recently with the Oilers last season. He even appeared in Edmonton\u2019s final playoff game in the 2022 Western Conference final.<\/p>\n He is the first guy to step in to make sure a drill is completed properly in practice if someone needs to leave the ice. He\u2019s the ultimate dressing-room guy.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a fine between being in the NHL and playing in the NHL,\u201d Malone said. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s much of a pecking order to change within the pecking order.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the last few years, I probably would have had an extra few hundred thousand dollars. That\u2019s something that I just can\u2019t control.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so tight right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Malone likes being in Bakersfield, but his NHL salary is $762,500 whereas he has a $300,000 guaranteed deal in the minors.<\/p>\n What players like him are also getting stripped of, however, is accrued time toward their pensions, Walsh noted.<\/p>\n It takes NHL players 10 full seasons of being on the roster for 80 games to secure a full pension. They\u2019re eligible to start receiving their pensions at age 62. Pensions are adjusted for inflation, so someone collecting in full got $265,000 compared to $245,000 last year, said Justin Noble \u2014 a senior wealth adviser at Gavin Hockey Wealth Specialists.<\/p>\n 60<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 0.75<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $19,875<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 80<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $26,500<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 160<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $53,000<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 240<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $79,500<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 320<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 4.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $106,000<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 400<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 5.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $132,500<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 560<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 7.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $185,500<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 640<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 8.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $212,000<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 720<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 9.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $238,500<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 800<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n $265,000<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Noble advises more than 60 NHL players and their families. He noted that it takes 20 games on an NHL roster to earn a quarter pension credit. That\u2019s even more notable to veterans.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing,\u201d Noble said. \u201cAs someone who works with players, there are multiple guys who I couldn\u2019t believe couldn\u2019t find jobs this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Teams feel the pinch of having a short roster, too. Starting a season undermanned, as was the case for the Oilers, Canucks, Kings and Senators, is far from ideal. However, the NHL put in a rule when the pandemic began that teams are eligible to add to their rosters with players making the league minimum plus $100,000 \u2014 so $875,000 this season \u2014 once they\u2019ve played a game short-handed.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been a good rule change under the CBA to protect the health of the players and to protect the competitive balance of a team trying to compete,\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n But increasing the salary cap by an extra $500,000 to $84 million would have made a world of difference to so many teams and players, Walsh said.<\/p>\n The players\u2019 escrow debt from the pandemic is said to be around $50 million compared to $1.2 billion at its highest point, however, the CBA states that the cap can increase by 5 percent once that debt has been repaid. The NHLPA tried to get a bigger bump to the cap for the current season in June, but the NHL was unwilling to do so unless the players agreed to a higher escrow deduction than 6 percent, the cap for the last three years.<\/p>\n That was a non-starter for the union.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was presented to Gary that your own teams are choking with no cap space,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cL.A., Vancouver, Ottawa and Edmonton were only able to dress 19 players for their first NHL game because they don\u2019t have the cap space to add in a player.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is a f\u2014ing joke. And teams saw it coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Next summer, the salary cap is set to increase by more than $2 million for the first time since 2018.<\/p>\n But while the cap should rise to $87.6 million and $92 million for 2024-25 and 2025-26, respectively, there are competitive teams like the Oilers that have already committed more money on their books and have big-name free agents to sign in the near future.<\/p>\n Agents are worried teams have gotten used to this setup and won\u2019t go back to a 23-man roster ever again.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully the people doing the business understand and see the situation that some people are put in,\u201d Malone said.<\/p>\n Holland still thinks a full roster is the best-case scenario, but he can see the merit of having a 22-man group \u2014 with one extra forward and one extra blueliner. That scenario can help teams accrue cap space \u2014 as long as they\u2019re not in long-term injured reserve \u2014 and some coaches even like a leaner roster because there are fewer players around to disappoint when they\u2019re told they won\u2019t be playing.<\/p>\n Lecavalier believes all lost jobs probably won\u2019t re-enter the workforce unless the NHL expands, a topic that appears to be gaining steam.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be fixed \u2014 or it\u2019s going to take a long time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For now, many decent NHL players are left on the outside looking in. Just six of the 47 players who attended NHL camps on tryout offers earned contracts this year, per CapFriendly. That\u2019s not even accounting for those with contracts that got bumped.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce a player is squeezed out of the league, for example, for cap reasons, it\u2019s very hard to find your way back,\u201d Walsh said.<\/p>\n Erne, eventually, was one of the lucky ones to not suffer that fate.<\/p>\n He left his wife, Elodie, and their three young children \u2014 daughter, Riley 3; son, Tysen, 2; daughter, Lyla, 1 \u2014 in Connecticut until his future with the Oilers was determined. They moved to Edmonton once he signed last week and found a house to rent.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a long waiting game,\u201d Erne said.<\/p>\n At least he was rewarded. So many of his peers can\u2019t say the same thing.<\/p>\n (Top photos of Adam Erne and Kelly McCrimmon and Ken Holland: Andy Devlin and Jeff Vinnick \/ NHLI via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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