Oilers’ Latest Waiver Moves Not What They Seem — Here’s What’s Really Happening

The Edmonton Oilers made a couple of smart moves this weekend, placing Andrew Mangiapane and Alec Regula on waivers. Many saw this decision as a precursor to a trade (which it might be). That said, the moves also have a salary cap benefit.

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Related: Oilers Place Andrew Mangiapane, Alec Regula on Waivers: What Comes Next?

What the Oilers are doing is a well-known NHL cap tactic to get players like Josh Samanski and Ike Howard (two players with ELCs and performance bonuses) on the books at a lower rate. This all has to do with Mattias Janmark‘s injury. If Samanski and Howard are on the NHL roster when Janmark hits LTIR, their base cap hits ($975k/$950k) lock into the relief calc. Recalling them later after a quick AHL stint then uses the lower hits. If they’re in the minors at LTIR placement, full AAV ($1.46M/$1.62M incl. bonuses) counts against the adjusted cap instead.

The Simplest Explanation for What the Oilers Are Likely Doing

Janmark is hurt and might miss a bunch of games. If they put him on LTIR (Long-Term Injured Reserve), the team gets extra cap space to spend to replace him. (They can go over the normal limit by roughly how much Janmark costs.)

As for where Samanski and Howard factor in: some young players are in the minors and have a low base pay, but they can earn extra money (performance bonuses) if they do really well in the NHL. If those guys are still down in the minors when the team puts Janmark on LTIR, the league will count the full possible cost (cap hit + possible bonuses) right away. That’s higher—like $1.46 million for one and $1.62 million for the other. But if those guys are already up playing in the NHL when Janmark goes on LTIR, the league only counts their regular cheap pay ($975K and $950K). No bonus worry yet because they’re already there. This saves money and gives the team more room under the cap rules.

So the Oilers want to do the following:

1. Get Samanski and/or Howard up to the NHL roster first (so they count as the cheap amount).
2. Then put Janmark on LTIR (now they get the full extra allowance help, and the young guys don’t cost extra bonus money on paper).

Why Do Mangiapane and Regula Have to Go On Waivers?

Because the Oilers are super tight on cap space right now, to make room to call those guys up, they might need to send some other players down to the minors first. Mangiapane and Regula need to go through waivers (like asking if any other team wants them for free—if no one claims them, they can go down safely).

After sending those guys down (and maybe they play one quick game in the minors to make it official), the team can call the young guys back up later if needed, and swap things around.

Essentially, everything has to be in the right spot at the exact right time so that it all works at the best possible salary.

PuckPedia writes, “Therefore, expect EDM to send the guys on waivers down after clearing waivers so they have room to call up 1 or both of Samanski & Howard. Once up, they can put Janmark on LTIR. Then, after the players sent down play at least 1 AHL game, they could be swapped back.”

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