Before comparing the Colorado Avalanche and the Arizona Coyotes, I feel it’s important to look at their salary cap situation, as well as recap their 2015-16 season.
A cursory look at Arizona’s salary cap situation will tell you that they aren’t afraid to spend, and look primed for playoff contention, sitting just over $2 million below the cap ceiling.
Upon further investigation, however, you’ll see that $12,441,429 of that cap space is occupied by the contracts of Paval Datsyuk and Chris Pronger. Datsyuk made the choice this summer to return to Russia, while Pronger’s playing career has been over since the 2011-12 season due to injuries.