What It Might Cost for a Trade Deadline Upgrade

We're less than a month away from the NHL's trade deadline (March 3) which means it's time for the rumor mill to get fired up. Thanks to the salary cap, making a move on deadline day isn't always as easy as it used to be, and some teams might not have the available cap space to add that final piece to the puzzle.

When you're trading for a player in-season, you're on the hook for a pro-rated cap hit. How's that figured out? There's a simple formula for it: The average yearly salary for the player, divided by the number of days in the season (192) and then multiplied by the number of days remaining in the season (on deadline day, that would be 38 days).

Let's take a look at some players that could be moved before March 3, and what it might cost a team against the cap for the remainder of the season.

All salary numbers come from NHLnumbers.com. It's important to note that these salary figures are not the exact salary numbers. But they're close. Only the NHL and the NHL Players Association have the exact numbers, and good luck getting a hand on those.

Another factor that makes this trading season somewhat unique is the fact there is essentially two trade deadlines -- the March 3 deadline, and Feb. 12, which marks the start of the Olympic roster freeze. The chart below lists 15 players that could be moved (or have been mentioned in recent rumors), their approximate cap hit and the approximate cap hit for the remainder of the season (depending on which day they're acquired).

Remaining Cap Hits For The 2009-2010 Season (All Numbers Approximate)
Player	Team	Avg Yearly Salary (Cap Hit)	Cap Hit If Acq. On Feb. 12	Cap Hit If Acq. On Mar. 3
Ray Whitney	Carolina	$3.5 Mil	$1.03 Mil	$702 K
Alexei Ponikarovsky	Toronto	$2.1 Mil	$624 K	$416 K
Sheldon Souray	Edmonton	$5.4 Mil	$1.6 Mil	$1.06 Mil
Raffi Torres	Columbus	$2.2 Mil	$667 K	$445 K
Andy Sutton	NY Islanders	$2.9 Mil	$872 K	$581 K
Martin Biron	NY Islanders	$1.4 Mil	$415 K	$277 K
Marty Turco	Dallas	$5.7 Mil	$1.6 Mil	$1.12 Mil
Paul Kariya	St. Louis	$6.0 Mil	$1.7 Mil	$1.18 Mil
Keith Tkachuk	St. Louis	$2.1 Mil	$638 K	$425 K
Slava Kozlov	Atlanta	$3.6 Mil	$1.0 Mil	$725 K
Colby Armstrong	Atlanta	$2.4 Mil	$712 K	$475 K
Matt Cullen	Carolina	$2.8 Mil	$853 K	$569 K
Lubomir Visnovsky	Edmonton	$5.6 Mil	$1.6 Mil	$1.1 Mil
Tomas Kaberle	Toronto	$4.25 Mil	$1.2 Mil	$841 K
John-Michael Liles	Colorado	$4.2 Mil	$1.2 Mil	$831 K

-- Sheldon Souray, Lubomir Visnovsky, John-Michael Liles and Tomas Kaberle are all signed beyond this season, while no-trade clauses (Souray and Kaberle) could be another hurdle for a potential buyer.

-- Alexei Ponikarovsky would be an excellent cheap addition at the deadline for a team that needs a winger. At last year's deadline Toronto received a second-round pick for Nik Antropov. His numbers at the deadline were similar to the numbers Ponikarovsky might have at this year's deadline. If a similar return could land the 6-foot-4, 230-pound forward it could prove be a steal. Ray Whitney could be this year's Bill Guerin.

-- If you don't want to pay Dallas' Marty Turco over a million dollars (or don't have the cap room for it) for a potential playoff run, Islanders veteran Martin Biron can be had for a fraction of the price. The only problem, of course, is the fact Turco is probably the better player.