from Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic,

Now it’s time to look at everybody else, grading each team’s total contract efficiency.

Like last year, each team is graded based on the same methodology in an attempt to measure which teams are most efficient with the money they spend. The contracts being graded are every healthy, non-ELC skater that my model has a projection for, as well as any dead money a team has on their cap via buyouts, salary retention and cap recapture penalties. That means no RFAs without a deal, no players on an entry-level contract, no players without significant NHL-playing time, no players on LTIR and no goalies. My model currently doesn’t have win projections for goaltenders beyond one season or expected contract value, so they were omitted. Unused cap space is also not part of the equation as there’s no telling exactly how that space would be used. This is just about the value of each contract currently on the books, signed as of Nov. 3.

16. Detroit Red Wings

last year: 31st

No team had a bigger year-over-year glow up than the Red Wings, who ranked dead last the previous season, but come in at 16th this time around. It’s a monumental leap. The big difference is how much the team is paying per win, going from one of the league’s worst to one of the best at third overall. That’s thanks mostly to most of the roster being on very short term deals, but also trimming a lot of negative value off the roster. The biggest subtraction is Justin Abdelkader, owner of one of the league’s worst contracts who was mercifully bought out this offseason. With Jonathan Ericsson’s deal expiring and Darren Helm only having one year left, only Frans Nielsen has a contract in the “D” range compared to the four the Red Wings had last season. One of the ugliest salary cap pictures is finally clearing up.

This is still a bad team filled with players unlikely to live up to their deals, but the short commitments make things much more palatable. That’s especially true for new additions Bobby Ryan, Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher, who all bring positive value.

The biggest pluses are the two newest deals for Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. RFA deals usually come in below market price and the team got a great deal for both, especially Mantha, whose deal instantly becomes one of the league’s best. Those contracts were enough to push Detroit up a few spots in these rankings.

the rest of the teams (paid)...