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NHL Player Rankings: Top 5 Biggest Bargains For 2014-2015 Season

By Patrick Schmidt

Nov 11, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) blocks a shot against the Buffalo Sabres during the third period at Scottrade Center. The St. Louis Blues defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 11, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) blocks a shot against the Buffalo Sabres during the third period at Scottrade Center. The St. Louis Blues defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 15, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz (17) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal during the second period against the Washington Capitals at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz (17) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal during the second period against the Washington Capitals at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /

This week’s NHL player rankings takes a closer look at the five biggest bargains in the league who have outplayed their modest contract and bring tremendous value and salary cap relief to their respective organizations

Last week I took a look at the highest paid players in the NHL so for this week’s player power rankings, I wanted to look at the players who bring the most bang for their buck and represent the biggest bargain for their team.

Managing the salary cap in this era is important for teams to have sustained success and compete for years with a core in place rather than going for broke in a Stanley Cup or bust spending spree that often is a poor way of roster management.

The reason why the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have won four of the last five Cups is because they were able to lock up their young core of players early before they hit the open market and their cap hit would be much higher. This has allowed them to make splashy moves like the Kings trading for Marian Gaborik who was instrumental in the Kings title run last year or the Blackhawks making a prudent free agent signing of Brad Richards this offseason.

When you have payroll flexibility you can fill out your roster wisely and ensure you have as few weaknesses as possible and a roster deep enough to withstand injuries throughout the season.

These five players represent the best bargains in the NHL this season and their teams are flourishing because they were able to invest the savings from these deals at other positions.

One caveat is players on their entry-level contract were omitted otherwise this list would be a list of the best rookie and second-year players in the NHL and that’s not the intention with this list.

After reading through the list, please leave your thoughts and reactions in the comments section below.

Without further ado, here are the five biggest bargains in the NHL.

All salary figures courtesy of capgeek.com and all stats are current prior to Nov. 25 games and courtesy of hockey-reference.com.

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