Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World

I am excited to announce the release of my first book "Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World: Best 15 Contracts Signed by Each NHL Team (2005-2020)" that is now available for purchase on Amazon.  The ebook is 587 pages long, featuring detailed analysis of the 450 best deals recorded since the introduction of the salary cap in 2005. 

It is the first installment in a 2-part series, with the Worst Contracts book coming out in December. My plans to embark on this project started prior to Covid, so when the pandemic shutdown my workplace, it almost felt like a gift from a higher power, allowing me to focus 100% of my attention on this venture. Originally this was intended to be one big book, but when it became clear that it would be over 1000 pages long, splitting it into 2 separate manuscripts became a necessity. 

Ranking NHL contracts has been an obsession of mine for nearly a decade, posting annual lists on this blog of the best and worst deals in the league. My first endeavor to rank each team's best and worst contracts began in 2016, though the lists in this book differ from earlier iterations. These newer rankings were done in collaboration with an NHL scout, who also did his own version that informed my final order (it required that I bribe him with free golf). The majority of the writing was completed in June, July and August during the Covid lockdown, with some updates based on how the 2020 bubble playoffs played out (Victor Hedman was moved up a few spots).

As mentioned above, my 2nd book will be released in December with the title "The Definitive Guide to Salary Cap Mismanagement". It is better that you read the Best Contracts book first, as that often tells the pre-story of how those bad investments would eventually come to pass further down the road. I know from experience blogging about the best and worst, that lists of bad deals always get more hits. People love reading about athletes getting overpaid, and my second book really embraces the visceral emotions that some fans feel when individual players are messing up their cap number.

While the second book might be more eagerly anticipated, if you read Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World beforehand, you'll be better prepared for that experience. This is the prequel. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The paperback was going to be prohibitively expensive due to the size and colors in this manuscript, so it will only be available in an ebook version.

The reason that the file size is so big and the paperback was going to cost so much is because of the customized graphics for all 450 treaties being discussed. Example provided below; the number one best contract signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the salary cap era, their only pact to win multiple Stanley Cups. Granted it was the Penguins who reaped the benefits of that bargain, as the Leafs helped pay for those 2 titles in retained salary.

Each contract description comes complete with quotes from players/GMs, a customized "basket of comparables", and a statistical analysis with a year-by-year breakdown of the Expected Free Agency Value E[FA$] of each annual stat line, to approximate the exact amount that a player was over or under paid. Sure, Phil was slightly overpaid on that Leafs deal, but that can be overlooked when you win the right to eat hot dogs out of the Stanley Cup. As far as the Penguins were concerned, it was a bargain...

ENJOY!