for the 2020 NHL All-Star Game鈥檚 鈥淟ast Men In,鈥� representing Quinn Hughes鈥� last chance to get .
And yet, some Canucks fans are hesitant to vote for Hughes, because they鈥檙e worried that the contract bonus that Hughes would receive for going to the All-Star Game would have a detrimental effect on the Canucks鈥� salary cap next year. If that is your concern, I鈥檓 here to assuage it. Quinn Hughes going to the All-Star Game won鈥檛 have any impact on the Canucks鈥� salary cap, either this year or next year.
The concern is rooted in how bonuses work on entry-level contracts. Since there is a limit on how much a team can pay a player on an entry-level deal, there are performance bonuses baked into the entry-level system that award exceptional players. If a player reaches certain milestones, they get paid a bonus. Some of those bonuses get added to that player鈥檚 cap hit.
If a team is up against the salary cap and these bonuses would result in the team going over the cap, they can apply those bonuses to the following year鈥檚 salary cap, giving them some temporary relief. That can cause problems, however, for the next year, particularly if the team will already be facing a cap crunch.
, who have to worry about bonuses for both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes being added to their cap for the 2020-21 season.
That could cause issues, as the Canucks have a decent chunk of cap space already spent for next season, with the likes of Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher, Jake Virtanen, Josh Leivo, and Adam Gaudette all needing new contracts.
Here鈥檚 the thing: that鈥檚 going to happen whether or not Hughes goes to the All-Star Game.
There are two types of performance bonuses: A and B. The A bonuses are the ones we鈥檙e concerned about here, as they鈥檙e payable by the team and affect the salary cap. B bonuses are paid by the league and are not added to a player鈥檚 cap hit.
There is a set list of A bonuses 鈥� players and teams can鈥檛 negotiate oddball bonuses like 鈥淢ust wear the number 90鈥� or 鈥淪cores 5 goals in the shootout鈥� 鈥� and going to the All-Star Game is one of them. For each milestone a player reaches, they get a bonus of $212,500. So, if Hughes is named to the All-Star Game, he鈥檒l receive a performance bonus of $212,500, which will be added to his cap hit.
The catch is that a player may not receive more than $850,000 in A bonuses per season. That works out to four milestones: once a player reaches four of his A bonuses, it doesn鈥檛 matter if he meets the criteria for more bonuses. He gets $850,000 and that鈥檚 it.
This season, Hughes is all-but guaranteed to reach four of his A bonuses. Let鈥檚 take a look at :
- Ice time (aggregate and/or per Game). Player must be among top four (4) defensemen on the Club (minimum 42 Regular Season Games played by Player and comparison group).
- Goals: 10 Goal Minimum
- Assists: 25 Assist Minimum
- Points: 40 Point Minimum
- Points Per Game: .49 Points Per Game Minimum (minimum 42 Regular Season Games played)
- Plus-Minus Rating: Among top three (3) defensemen on the Club (minimum 42 Regular Season Games played by Player and comparison group).
- Blocked Shots: Among top two (2) defensemen on the Club (minimum 42 Regular Season Games played by Player and comparison group).
- End-of-Season NHL All-Rookie Team
- NHL All-Star Game (selected to play or plays)
- NHL All-Star Game MVP
Hughes can be reasonably expected to reach several of these bonuses. In fact, he already has 25 assists, so you can check that bonus off.
He鈥檚 currently third on the team in ice time per game, which isn鈥檛 likely to change any time soon. He only needs 10 more points to reach 40, so that one is likely as well. He鈥檚 currently averaging 0.72 points per game; if he reaches 40 points, he鈥檒l be guaranteed to score 0.49 points per game.
That鈥檚 already four bonuses, reaching his maximum of $850,000 in A bonuses for this year, and that鈥檚 not including his pretty much guaranteed inclusion in the NHL All-Rookie Team at the end of the year. At this point, the two defencemen for the All-Rookie Team are going to be Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes; it would take a shocking second half of the season for that to change.
If Hughes gets voted to the All-Star Game by the fans as one of the 鈥淟ast Men In,鈥� it won鈥檛 make a difference to his performance bonuses. It just means he鈥檒l reach six of his bonuses instead of five.
So, . He deserves to go.
Note: Some have reported difficulty voting for the "Last Men In" on the Chrome internet browser. You may need to use an alternate browser, such as Safari, to register your vote. You may vote up to 10 times every 24 hours from now until January 10th, so vote early and vote often.
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