Struggling to understand Cap

[Nuck]

So I understand how the cap works normally in NHL and most other sports. But I am struggling to understand cap in this game from time to time.

Right now I have the NHL cap set to $160,000,000.00 and if you look at the pictures I have linked ( sorry but I dont know how to post pictures on here ) you will see that I am expected to be over the cap by $42 million. But if you look at the Salary obligation page, I am actually under this seasons cap by $2 million.

What am I not understanding?

https://gyazo.com/1ea73950d9d235a0d25c7966ba1e6555

https://gyazo.com/bbf91d7c944f49896609d8edb1638653

[Alessandro]

Salary vs caphit...look your own screenshots better and you'll understand

[Sebastian Palkowski]

As Alessandro wrote, in the NHL the player Salary is not the value that counts against the Salary Cap, the Cap Hit is the important value. So you need to check out the Tab "Cap Obligations".

[AbeFroman]

Oh boy... that -42.3M cap hit next season!

[Nuck]

I understand the difference between what you have to pay the player vs what counts against the leagues cap. But like AbeFroman said I am -$42mil cap space next season. Are you guys saying that my salary obligations are lower then the actual cap hit?

Edit: I see that it is now, but why would it be that way say 20 seasons in? I don't believe I have any cap withheld through trades or anything else similar.

[Colorado]

Originally Posted by Nuck

I understand the difference between what you have to pay the player vs what counts against the leagues cap. But like AbeFroman said I am -$42mil cap space next season. Are you guys saying that my salary obligations are lower then the actual cap hit?

Edit: I see that it is now, but why would it be that way say 20 seasons in? I don't believe I have any cap withheld through trades or anything else similar.

Yes, presumably you have some expiring contracts which will put you $42mil under the cap when they come off your wage bill. Obviously, you may try and re-sign players on expiring contracts or pick up free agency signings which would then increase your total cap space again.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

I´m not sure what "20 seasons in" has to do with it? Did you check out the "Cap Obligations" tab, it should explain the situation.

Originally Posted by Nuck

I understand the difference between what you have to pay the player vs what counts against the leagues cap. But like AbeFroman said I am -$42mil cap space next season. Are you guys saying that my salary obligations are lower then the actual cap hit?

Edit: I see that it is now, but why would it be that way say 20 seasons in? I don't believe I have any cap withheld through trades or anything else similar.

[redtiger7]

I'd like to point out just how confusing the finacials screen is. Using the above examples, we see that he has $8M in cap space. Yet further up that screen he's told he has $22m available for free agents and $44M available for extensions. And why is the team budegt so much higher than the actual cap?

I'm just wondering if there's an easier, more streamlined way to tell me if I can sign another player?

[Savoie45]

Originally Posted by redtiger7

I'd like to point out just how confusing the finacials screen is. Using the above examples, we see that he has $8M in cap space. Yet further up that screen he's told he has $22m available for free agents and $44M available for extensions. And why is the team budegt so much higher than the actual cap?

I'm just wondering if there's an easier, more streamlined way to tell me if I can sign another player?

They're not the same. The budget is what the owner allows, the Salary Cap is what the league allows. The easiest way to do things is to go by salary cap space.

[redtiger7]

Which is confusing and doesn't add up either. Look at the first picture posted. The cap is $176M. But the payroll is $189M and somehow he has $8M left in cap space.

I'm just saying that the way it is now is confusing.

[Alessandro]

Originally Posted by redtiger7

Which is confusing and doesn't add up either. Look at the first picture posted. The cap is $176M. But the payroll is $189M and somehow he has $8M left in cap space.

I'm just saying that the way it is now is confusing.

I agree that it's confusing and the game doesn't help non-expert players to understand all the nuances, but I think that the amount left in cap space is always correct. What doesn't add up is that there are for example players in the farm team which do count against the payroll but do not (always) count against the salary cap.
Though I agree that the game could do a better job in helping players with the cap's nuances, especially for those who aren't really experts in the matter.

[Savoie45]

Did you extend a bunch of players whose contracts haven't expired yet? That will count against the team cap, not for the current season. Thus, you still have 8 million cap space for the current season, but next season you'll be well over the cap once the extensions take effect.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

I bet that is the case.

We could check that out when he posts a screenshot of the Cap Obligation tab, there we would see it.

Originally Posted by Savoie45

Did you extend a bunch of players whose contracts haven't expired yet? That will count against the team cap, not for the current season. Thus, you still have 8 million cap space for the current season, but next season you'll be well over the cap once the extensions take effect.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

1. I fully agree that the information in the first screenshot is confusing and we do a really bad job to explain it.

2. Malte and I already talked about how we can handle this (and the Finances in general) more userfriendly.

3. I want at least try to give a small overview here (see attached screenshot I added a bit of context):

- The top part ("Salary" in my screenshot) is all about player salaries (not Cap Hit!) and budget (not Salary Cap!).

Budget = total money available from the Team Owner

Player Payroll = Total Salary of all players

Available money for FAs = money for salary against your Budget you have available to sign FA´s (this calculation includes a bit more stuff, e.g. possible open offers, open money from buyouts and so on).

Available money for Extensions = same as above but for extensions

- The 3rd part ("Cap Hit" in my screenshot) iss all about player Cap Hits and
Salary Cap (you coud say this is the more important part).

Team Salary Cap = the current Salary cap for this team (which goes up every day when the team is below the League Salary Cap)

Salary Cap Space = The value of Cap Space you have available against your current Team Salary Cap (see above). Again, this formular also takes a bit more into account than just the sum of all Cap Hit from each player.

Salary Cap Space Next Season = how much Cap Hit you have available against the League Salary Cap (in this case 160.000.000). So in the Screenshot the team will be 42 Million above the Cap Hit.

Hope that helps a bit, if you have further questions feel free to ask.

[redtiger7]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

1. I fully agree that the information in the first screenshot is confusing and we do a really bad job to explain it.

2. Malte and I already talked about how we can handle this (and the Finances in general) more userfriendly.

That's great to hear

[Nuck]

Originally Posted by Savoie45

Did you extend a bunch of players whose contracts haven't expired yet? That will count against the team cap, not for the current season. Thus, you still have 8 million cap space for the current season, but next season you'll be well over the cap once the extensions take effect.

Yes I did, I usually extend most of my main players in July knowing that I want them to return and trying to get the best deal possible.

[Nuck]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

I bet that is the case.

We could check that out when he posts a screenshot of the Cap Obligation tab, there we would see it.

I can not show you a SS from this time in the game as I more then likely deleted it. I delete my files after each season or roughly 6 -8 months.

If you guys want I can take new pictures that includes all that information and the salary and cap obligation pages. The issue I am showing is a year after year persistent thing.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Yes, do this. But I´m pretty sure that everything is correct.

Originally Posted by Nuck

I can not show you a SS from this time in the game as I more then likely deleted it. I delete my files after each season or roughly 6 -8 months.

If you guys want I can take new pictures that includes all that information and the salary and cap obligation pages. The issue I am showing is a year after year persistent thing.

[Nuck]

https://gyazo.com/9d6374bbaba6c9ef9bd23ea3fd1e98b4

https://gyazo.com/fee95664eb08766bcc586fcc51603d5b

https://gyazo.com/ffd1983f8117ad7efa106a52f87412cc