Cap & Crease
Build an NHL trade. See who comes out ahead, and why.
Trade Machine · Player Profiles · Team Tools · Live NHL Data
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Every trade gets a verdict: who comes out ahead, by how much, and why.
- 1. Add up the value
Every player and pick gets a value score. We call it X-NAV, short for extended net asset value: one number for what an asset is worth in a trade. Each side's package is added up.
- 2. Check it makes sense
Cap room, no-trade clauses, roster spots and where each team is in its cycle (contender or rebuilding) are checked, so a deal that wins on paper but cannot happen gets flagged.
- 3. Read the verdict
A win, fair or loss, a note when the other team would say no, and the reasons in plain sentences, with the numbers underneath.
How big is a gap? A trade within 10 X-NAV, or within 10% of the larger side, counts as fair. Anything past that is a lean one way. The ranking further down shows where real players sit, so a gap can be read against them.
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Pick a player and see which clubs fit him and what the model values as a fair return. It is the same valuation the Trade Machine uses, shown as a starting point, not a prediction of what any club would do.
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Trade Machine
Build a single trade, add retained salary, and test the package against X-NAV (our one-number value for every player and pick) and the GM Audit (a check of cap room, clauses and roster spots). Share the result as a locked link, and argue the deal with numbers instead of noise.
Player Analytics
Search the full NHL roster. Season totals, advanced analytics, a STRAND DNA profile (a fingerprint of how he scores, defends and is used), contract value, and the pieces behind his X-NAV.
Team Analytics
Browse all 32 franchises. Contention window, roster strength, cap situation, NHL EDGE tracking profiles (speed, finishing, zone time), and the team's competitive stage, from tanking to Cup contender.
Armchair GM
Take over a franchise, make multiple moves, inspect roster DNA, manage cap consequences, and see whether you can run the room better than the actual front office. A full multi-move session with the season on the line, every consequence on the record.
The ten most valuable trade assets in the NHL right now, ranked by X-NAV (our one-number trade value). It is a value rating, not a best-player list: it weighs contract and age along with production, so a young star on a cheap deal can sit above a better, older player on a max contract. Skaters with 20+ games last season; goalies, prospects and picks are not on this list. The rating still runs on last season's full-year numbers. This season's line sits beside it, but is not scored until teams have played enough games for it to be trusted.
On the Business of Building a Hockey Team
It started with a familiar hockey argument: ‘Who says no?’ Usually, one side was getting Connor McDavid and the other was getting a bag of chips and a haircut.
I figured, how hard could it be to build a trade machine that gave those conversations a little more substance?
What was supposed to be a simple side project grew into Cap & Crease: a hockey analytics website with custom valuation models, player profiles, team-building tools, and more data feeds than I originally planned to manage.
Turns out, it’s very hard.
The goal is to give the debate a better starting point: what a player brings, what their contract costs, and whether a deal makes sense for both teams. The models are estimates, the site is still evolving, and there will always be room to argue with the verdict.
Try a trade, explore your team, and let me know what looks wrong. That’s how this gets better.
— Brady, creator of Cap & Crease
Our one-number trade value for a player or pick. On a single player it is labelled F-NAV (forwards), D-NAV (defensemen) or G-NAV (goalies): the same rating, scored for his position. It weighs how he plays, his role and age, what his contract costs against what the market usually pays, and how many years of control a team gets. Prospects are valued on draft position and their scoring translated to NHL level.
A fingerprint of how a player, or a whole team, plays: how much he drives scoring, how much he protects his own end, and how he is used. Percentiles compare him with others at his position.
A rules check on a trade, the way a front office would see it: clauses, cap legality, retained salary, roster slots, surplus gaps, and whether the deal fits each team's contention window.