A look at Red Wings’ cap situation after Filip Zadina’s departure

The Detroit Red Wings cleared some salary-cap space and saved even more money by terminating Filip Zadina’s contract Friday, a move the 2018 sixth overall pick did not contest, wanting a fresh start with another NHL team.

Zadina, 23, is an unrestricted free agent and the Red Wings trimmed $1.825 million off their cap and saved $4.56 million in actual salary (his contract was backloaded for $1.83 million this season and $2.73 million in 2024-25).

This obviously isn’t what general manager Steve Yzerman envisioned when he signed Zadina to a three-year, $5.475 million extension last summer. But it’s all in the past now after Zadina cleared waivers Friday for the second time this week, this time for the purposes of contract termination.

The Red Wings’ current cap hit is $69.96 million, factoring in players projected to make the team plus retained salary and buyouts. The 2023-24 cap is $83.5 million. They have roughly $13.5 million in cap space and are still in the market for a goal-scorer. They’re still in pursuit of Ottawa Senators right wing Alex DeBrincat, who would exhaust much of that remaining cap space. They also need to sign restricted free agent Joe Veleno.

They can’t exhaust all of their cap space. They must leave some cushion for injury replacements and just general flexibility.

Regardless, Zadina’s decision gives the Red Wings a little more financial flexibility. Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Michael Rasmussen are among the players entering the final year of their contracts. Seider could be signed to a maximum eight-year deal, possibly similar to the contract Dylan Larkin inked in March (eight years, $69.6 million).

Here is a look at the Red Wings’ projected roster and cap situation for now, per capfriendly.com:

Forwards

Dylan Larkin $8.7 million

Andrew Copp $5.625 million

J.T. Compher $5.1 million

David Perron $4.75 million

Robby Fabbri $4 million

Dominik Kubalik $2.5 million

Klim Kostin $2 million

Daniel Sprong $2 million

Michael Rasmussen $1.46 million

Christian Fischer $1.125 million

Jonatan Berggren $925,000

Lucas Raymond $925,000

Joe Veleno (Restricted free agent)

Defensemen

Ben Chiarot $4.75 million

Shayne Gostisbehere $4.125 million

Justin Holl $3.4 million

Jake Walman $3.4 million

Olli Maatta $3 million

Gustav Lindstrom $950,000

Moritz Seider $863,333

Goaltenders

Ville Husso $4.75 million

James Reimer $1.5 million

Others on the cap

Jakub Vrana (retained salary) $2.625 million

Justin Abdelkader (buyout) $1.055 million

Kailer Yamamoto (buyout) $433,334

More: Red Wings still pursuing Alex DeBrincat, but contract could be an issue