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Blues Launch Player Contract/Salary Page

The St. Louis Blues are the first team in the NHL to launch a page specifically highlighting their player's contract and salary information.

Nick Horwat

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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NHL fans were hit with a big blow when CapFriendly announced they would be shutting down their website after being purchased by the Washington Capitals. People have transitioned and are starting to get a grasp of new pages, but the St. Louis Blues are making things easy for their fans.

The Blues announced a new addition to their webpage and app called “Contract Tracker.” It’s nothing in depth, but an important tool that lists each player on the Blues’ roster with a one-way NHL deal and other basic contract information.

Each player’s average annual value against the salary cap, contract length, and how the Blue acquired them are easily found on the new page. It also lists if a player is an upcoming restricted or unrestricted free agent at the end of their deals.

The page isn’t overly extravagant and doesn’t feature all the tools and extra bells and whistles that can be found on sites like puckpedia.com, but the Blues are the first team to bring something like this to fans.

The NHL has long been against the publishing of contract information because they believe fans don’t care. The growing popularity of pages like Cap Geek, Cap Friendly, and now PuckPedia show that couldn’t be further from the truth.

When asked about Cap Geek in 2015, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he wasn’t sure how they got all of that salary information. When a player signs a new contract, it’s common practice for the singing team to disclose salary and term information as part of the release. Maybe that’s where it all came from.

Regardless of what the NHL believes, fans have always been interested in player salaries and how their favorite teams are utilizing their cap space. It’s also a useful source for news outlets and insiders to keep up with what’s going on around the league.

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Nick Horwat

NICK HORWAT

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