The cost of winning

Every FNHL GM wants to win, why would you have the job if your sole idea was to make money? Yes every business needs to make a profit in order to succeed but to a GM of a FNHL team dollars mean much more. It means getting the right talent, building on that talent and then keeping that talent for as long as possible. The biggest question every GM and owner has on his mind, how much do I need to spend in order to win? Well we broke it down. We looked at each FNHL team and found out how much each team is paying to win.

First off I would like to make it known that I am not professing that each team has to be cheap in order to win a championship. It takes money and alot of it to make it to the championship dance. But it does take the right GM to balance his budget so that the money he is spending today is being spent in the most efficient manor.

The average FNHL payroll hovers around $49.5 million. There are 11 teams out of 30 who are below that figure. One FNHL team (Pittsburgh Penguins) is actually sitting on the league imposed salary cap of $60 million. Some may say its crazy but Pittsburgh's cost per win is actually cheaper than the league average of $1.4 million. How did I determine this cost per win? Well I took the teams current games played, wins, total salary and came up with the following caluculation:

Total Salary / ((82/Games Played) x Current Wins)

Basically it takes the teams current salary and divides it by the projected wins of the team.

With that calculation we have determined that the Atlanta Thrashers are the league's "cheapest" teams with a average cost per win at $829,703. Now if you compare that to the league's most costly team the San Jose Sharks with an average cost per win at $3.292 million, you will draw an immediate conclusion to both teams. Atlanta is a team in rebuild and in doing so should have the league's lowest cost per win. The San Jose Sharks on the other hand are the total opposite side of the spectrum and are underachieving. Their $3.292 million per win is way too much and management should either look at reducing costs or find a way to get the team winning.

With our calculations we have determined that the New York Islanders are currently sitting as the league's best bang for the buck. With their 45 projected wins, they are spending a measly $874,900 per win. Arguably the better bang for your buck would be the New Jersey Devils who are projected to win 49 games and are only paying their players $960,365 per win.

Here is the breakdown of the entire league:

Atlanta $829,703.83
Islanders $874,900.22
Boston $885,975.61
Phoenix $950,457.32
New Jersey $960,365.85
Minnesota $985,647.28
Nashville $991,707.32
Los Angeles $1,011,890.24
Edmonton $1,084,427.77
Carolina $1,273,441.73
St Louis $1,292,334.49
Montreal $1,296,768.29
Washington $1,298,848.24
Florida $1,302,893.57
Calgary $1,309,378.05
Pittsburgh $1,330,376.94
Columbus $1,405,962.04
Toronto $1,457,195.12
Vancouver $1,468,902.44
Colorado $1,539,329.27
Buffalo $1,543,902.44
Dallas $1,574,525.75
Ottawa $1,630,335.37
Rangers $1,633,449.48
Philly $1,747,713.41
Detroit $1,809,059.23
Chicago $1,809,420.73
Tampa Bay $2,107,723.58
Anaheim $2,472,560.98
San Jose $3,292,530.49

Whether or not you are sitting on the high end of that list or the bottom end of that list. It is up to every GM to run his team as he may. The Chicago Blackhawks whom have an amazingly talented team and have their rink filled every night have the 4th highest cost per win. But unlike many FNHL teams they are actually cutting a small profit whereas the Boston Bruins whom are one of the cheaper cost per win teams are cutting a small loss. So not all teams need to keep a low payroll, they just need the right combination of player contracts and player talent. That is the balance that all GMs struggle with everyday.

There are so many ways to look at your payroll, I find it much easier to look at my payroll and think "what have you done for me lately?". Much like a kid getting an allowance and not earning it, look over your roster and make sure you are putting your money in the best places cause if you are not, you could be costing yourself alot of wasted developmental dollars and that my friends is not good FNHL business.