Carolina Hurricanes: Breaking Down Williams’ New Contract

It finally happened. Justin Williams is back with the Carolina Hurricanes after re-signing. But how did they get the legendary hero in under their cap limit?

Phew. We can all breath easy now. The last, very much needed, part of the Carolina Hurricanes is now finally back with the team. Justin Williams signed a one year (half year?) contract with the Hurricanes who were pretty much backed up against the cap ceiling. But just how did they get the money to work? Where does that leave the Hurricanes moving forward in the season?

Cap space and how it works is an insane mathematical process that on its best day can be a struggle to comprehend. Player cap hits can be pro-rated down to the day. For those who play a full season with the NHL club without going on LTIR, the process and math is simple, the Cap hit is what they are paid for the season, based on contract, for others, the math can be complex.

Justin Williams being over 35 years of age when signing adds another complex layer to the mix. But lets break down what the contract is for a quick minute. Justin Williams is getting $700,000 in base salary and $1,300,000 in performance bonuses broken down in five different ways.

Capfriendly breaks the bonuses as:

• Games Played Bonus: $150,000 at 10 games played & $100,000 at 20 games played
• Playoff Qualification Bonus: $250,000 if the club qualifies for the Stanley Cup Playoffs
• Rounds Won Bonus: $300,000 max earnable ($100,000 for each round from 1-3 won)
• Stanley Cup Bonus: $250,000 if the club wins the SC
• Awards Bonus: $250,000 if player wins the Conn Smythe Trophy.

That is a lot of money put at risk for the former Carolina Hurricanes Captain. It all adds up to a $2,000,000 AAV. But because he signed after the season started the cap hit could still not exactly be the same. Capfriendly breaks down the rule for calculating the cap hit for players signing one year deals after the season starts:

• Cap hit = Signing bonus × total season days / season days remaining + base salary

But since the none of the bonuses for Justin Williams were a signing bonus, the base salary of $700,000 is the current cap hit for him.

So what about the bonuses? Because Justin Williams signed a 35+ contract there is a clause that allows for the bonuses to exceed the cap by 7.5% of the upper limit. The math there adds up to $6.1 Million of the $81.5 Million limit. More than enough for any of the bonuses that Williams could attain.

All together that allows for the ‘real’ cap hit of Justin Williams to only be the $700,000, or about the same as a call up from the Checkers. Don Waddell has masterminded this deal and the real reason for the negotiations were really about the breakdowns of the bonuses. In the end the Carolina Hurricanes are actually still in a good place money wise.

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While they are now at $80,304,163 of the $81,500,000 cap limit giving them a current cap space of $1,195,837, which is plenty of space for a call up if needed (god forbid), they actually have plenty of deadline cap space. That is the cap space that they are allowed to fill before the end of the season, which includes the daily cap space accumulated by season’s end.

This would currently adds up to $5.5 Million and can go up further if they move any players between now and the trade deadline (or place players on waivers for movement down to the AHL). This allows the Hurricanes an opportunity to add perhaps more value to the team by the trade deadline.

All hail lord turtleneck. Oh and welcome back Justin Williams!

Question for CC Readers: Where do you think Justin Williams should slot in the lineup?