Red Wings Sitting On Nhl's Highest Salary Cap Cushion

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Training camp for the Detroit Red Wings is slated to begin in less than a month, and the club still faces far more questions than answers.

The two most pressing situations that have yet to be resolved are who will ultimately succeed Steve Yzerman as general manager after the former Red Wings captain vacated the position in mid-July, and what will happen with current captain Dylan Larkin, who requested a trade and reportedly has not changed his mind. 

In the meantime, the Red Wings lead the NHL in a notable salary-cap category. As of Aug. 19, Detroit has the most available cap space of any of the league’s 32 teams, with $19.57 million in room, according to PuckPedia.

They're currently dedicating $52.61 million worth of contracts to their forward group, while spending $23.42 million on their current defensemen under contract. As far as goaltending is concerned, $8.40 million is being spent on the tandem of John Gibson and Daniil Tarasov.

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Coming in behind Detroit in available salary cap space are the Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. Like the Red Wings, all three teams missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025-26.

Whoever succeeds Yzerman as Red Wings GM will not only have to deal with the Larkin situation immediately but also work out a new contract for restricted free-agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who is due for a considerable raise from his $894,167 cap hit over the last three seasons. 

With ample salary cap space still available, the good news for Yzerman's successor is that there will not only be plenty to satisfy Edvinsson with a new contract, but also begin discussions with forward Alex DeBrincat, who can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. 

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