Anaheim Ducks: What Happens to if Ryan Kesler Misses the 2018-19 NHL Season?

Before We Start, Where Are the Ducks with the Salary Cap?

As we know, the Anaheim Ducks have been a budget team for most of their recent history. That means Bob Murray has had an internal budget to work within instead of the league-wide salary cap. Recently, the Ducks have spent nearer to the cap ceiling.

It probably didn’t hurt that the Ducks received their share of the Vegas Golden Knights’ $500 million expansion fee. This season, the NHL is expected to have a salary cap of near $82 million according to FanSided’s Derek Grochowski.

The Ducks have nine forwards, six defensemen, and their two goalies under contract for the upcoming season. These 17 players, including Kesler, have a combined cap hit of $65,758,333. That would leave the Ducks only $16,241,667 in cap space (assuming an $82 million cap) barring any trades or other transactions.

The Ducks typically carry an in-season roster of 23 players. That means they’ll need to fill six more spots for that $16M+. Ducks fans also have to remember Bob Murray will be busy this off-season. He has four players that are restricted free agents, meaning the team controls the player, but they are not yet under contract.

Those players are inexperienced puck-moving defenseman Andy Welinski; burly left wing Nick Ritchie; explosive defenseman Brandon Montour; and the best of them all, the dangling right wing Ondrej Kase. Suffice it to say there won’t be much cap space available for Murray to use to replace Kesler without using long-term injured reserve (LTIR).

Can Contract Insurance Help?

The Ducks are still a cost-conscious team. There’s a reason fans get great value from the team when they attend a game. So the potential loss of a huge contract is concerning. Although private contract insurance is available to the team, the cost is prohibitive.

There isn’t a lot of detail about the NHL’s current contract insurance plan. The latest information available indicates the league self-insures through a pooled premium paid by each club. That premium is based on the contracts of the teams’ highest-paid players. Teams can recover up to 80% of the contract.

Preexisting injuries are typically excluded from coverage. But it’s likely Kesler’s injury was not a repeat occurrence. It sounds more like this is an extension of the original injury. If contract insurance applies, that will help the cost-conscious Ducks to ice a competitive team in Kesler’s absence.