One of the Cheapest Blue Lines in The NHL Wins a Cup

Hurricanes Defense Spending Video Summary (TLDW)

What does each team pay their defensemen?

Vegas is on top at $41 million. New Jersey, the Rangers, the Wild, LA, and Washington all sit in the mid-30s.

Carolina is 27th.

Only five teams spend less: Vancouver, Anaheim, Detroit, Calgary, and Chicago. That’s a rebuild list. Carolina spends like a team collecting lottery odds and instead raised a banner.

Six defensemen for $16 million less than Vegas, and Vegas lost to us in six.

Slavin is the part that sticks. Nine straight seasons of Norris votes, two Lady Byngs, Olympic gold, a Cup. He could have gotten $8-9 million elsewhere and didn’t go find out. Then he missed 30 games and Carolina still finished first in the East and went 16-3 — with a goalie off waivers.

The number isn’t final. One unsigned regular is left, an RFA whose camp is asking $8 million against roughly $9.9 million in space. Sign him there and Carolina jumps to $32 million. Bridge him and they stay cheap. Trade him and they stay cheap with a return.

Either way, the blue line that won the Cup was one of the cheapest in the league. The rest of the league pays $35-40 million looking for the guy who solves it. Carolina built the structure first.

Go Canes.

Video Transcript

All right, so there's a list going around ranking every team based on what they're going to be spending on their blue line this season and I found that fascinating cuz Vegas is at the top at over $41 million on their blue line. Then I think it was Jersey, then the Rangers, then the Wild, LA, and Washington all in the mid-30s. Carolina is actually 27th at $25 million being spent on our blue line in 2026. So the team that just won the Stanley Cup has one of the cheapest defenses in the National Hockey League and that blows my mind because of how good our defense is, too, right? But that's not even the interesting part. The interesting part is who's below us. So there's five teams that spend less on their defense than Carolina does. We had Vancouver at 18.4, Anaheim at 22.5 million, Detroit at 23.4, Calgary at 24.4 million, and Chicago at 24.7 million, right? And that's the list and those are teams that are in a state of like rebuild, right? And some of them did pretty well last year. Um but then compare that to the Stanley Cup champions are the ones right above them. And Carolina spends like a team that's kind of like in more of a rebuild, but we're actually the team raising the banner. So at 25 million, what that buys us in Raleigh, we've got Jaccob Slavin at 7.5 million, Brady Skjei at 6.4 million, Sean Walker at 3.6 million, Shayne Gostisbehere at 3.2 million, Chad Field at right around 3 million, and then plugged in there is about 1.2 million dollar entry-level money at the bottom. We know what that's about, right? So we've got six defensemen for less than Vegas spends, $16 million less actually, and uh we beat Vegas in the final in six games. It's just it's kind of mind-blowing because our defense has been our backbone, like our blue line, right? So look at the teams stacked above us. New Jersey spending 36.5 million, Rangers 35.9 million, the Wild at 35.6 million, LA at 35.9 million, and Washington at right about 35 million. So every one of them spends like $10 million or more than the Stanley Cup champions do on defense. And that's pretty fascinating. Um if you look at Florida, that was interesting, too, because they're spending 27.4 million, so more than us. Um but not quite up at that top level that we're seeing the top tier spend on on the blue line. The Slavin one is the one that gets me every time, too, right? And I I saw a lot of stuff. I wish Slavin was getting more national respect, but you know, 6.4 million dollars for the guy who is, you know, real argument, best defensive defenseman on the planet. Nine straight seasons, he's getting Norris votes. We I talked about it in another video why that, you know, is kind of rigged against him. But he's got two Lady Byngs, Olympic gold, and the Stanley Cup, which is what he and we care about the most, obviously. And he's taking a deal to stay in Raleigh. I think obviously he could have gotten more elsewhere, 8-9 million, but he didn't try to find out. And then last season, he missed 30 games with a lower body injury. 30 games, right? And Carolina, we finished with our best with the best record in the Eastern Conference anyway. 16 and 3 in the playoffs. Um obviously he was back for that, but that whole organ- that's the whole organization, right? In in just one simple story there about how we've spent, how Tulsky's built this team. The best defenseman is not getting market value money. He got hurt for a third of the year. We still played great defense with a uh a goalie off waivers. That defense in front of him. And Bussi played great. Now, here's the part that I want you to know before we go anywhere else. The 25 million dollar is not settled, though, which is interesting, because we know that Necas is unsigned. And so, thinking about him and how he fits into this is really interesting, because as a restricted free agent who just finished his entry uh deal at 925 uh thousand a season, I think. He put up 11 goals, 33 points in 81 games in his first full season last year. All right, he was he was pretty good, right? And he he he lifted the cup. Playoffs, he wasn't where we obviously probably like him to be, but he's he's up and coming. We know Pesce's going to be solid, right? At the least. Now, his camp's looking for 8 million a year, and he's hinted he even wants north of that. We have 9.9 million in cap space, I think, and he's the only unsigned regular on the roster, and training camp is coming up. So, part of why we're 27th is is that hole, right? Where a top four defenseman is supposed to be. If he signs at eight, Carolina jumps over to to 32 million, and lands right around Columbus. We So, we we kind of bump ourselves up to the middle of pack. I'm not saying we're going to do that or anything. I'm just thought experiment's kind of interesting here. If we sign Pesce at something he wanted, that would also make him our highest-paid defenseman, which is crazy. But, if we bridge him for three to four years, we stay near the bottom. Um if we trade him, and there's been like interest from the Blues and stuff, we stay cheap, and we get something back. So, that's the actual decision sitting in front of Tulsky right now, and he's he obviously knows this. He thinks about this, and looks at it where we're at compared to the rest of the league. But, whatever happens with Pesce, it doesn't change what's already happened, right? The defense that won the Stanley Cup was one of the cheapest defenses in the NHL, and the performance that we got out of it, talk about return on investment, is insane. And it fits everything else about this team, right? No No forwards making uh $10 million. Not one player on the right roster got a single Heart Trophy vote. I don't know if you realize that. They led the entire league in goals uh from high range and high danger and mid danger shot areas. Um and we got guys all over the place who are committed to this team. We're not buying stars, we're building structure, putting people inside them. Guys want to be here. The rest of the league is out there paying 35 to 40 million for a blue line, uh trying to find the guy who guy who solves the problem for them. But, we're spending structurally sound, and we're the champions. Gives me a lot of excitement for this year. Go Canes.