PuckPedia's Hart Levine on NHL Cap Explosion, Offer Sheets & Rangers’ Big RFA Decisions

Hart Levine, founder of PuckPedia, joins Jim Cerny on the Rink Rap podcast to break down the rapidly rising NHL salary cap, the evolving free-agency market, the real impact of offer sheets, and the New York Rangers’ critical upcoming decisions on Gabe Perreault, Will Cuylle, and Braden Schneider. They also dig into the Pavel Dorofeyev contract, why teams are shifting toward shorter deals, how the end of the flat-cap era is changing player leverage, and the danger of the “mushy middle” for the Rangers as they try to retool. If you care about Rangers cap strategy, NHL contracts, offer sheets, or the future of free agency, this is essential listening. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 0:48 – Hart Levine joins 1:39 – Origin story of PuckPedia (2018) 3:16 – How the site exploded after the competition folded 5:38 – “Welcome to the league” moments & recognition from teams/agents 11:22 – Wild offseason & free-agency trends with the rising cap 16:41 – Offer sheets: Carlsson, Hayton, threats vs. actual deals 21:00 – Rangers’ big decisions: Perreault, Cuylle, Schneider 32:04 – Pavel Dorofeyev’s 7-year, $11M deal analyzed 36:00 – Avoiding the mushy middle & Rangers’ path forward Subscribe for more New York Rangers analysis, NHL cap talk, and interviews. Follow PuckPedia for the latest contract data and tools.