This is something I was working on before vacation, a mini-study of how five of the NHL's best teams are allocating their cap space this year. The five I went with are all right up against the cap, and all experienced a ton of success last year: The Sharks, Red Wings, Bruins, Capitals and Penguins.

Part of the reason I wanted to do this was, in looking at how GM Doug Wilson had revamped San Jose's roster by cutting depth and adding a top end stud in Dany Heatley, it was really clear how top heavy he had elected to go. And that's becoming the norm under the cap these days:

In dealing with a 22-man roster, the top 11 players take home 82 per cent of these teams' salary dollars, with the bottom 11 players (the last seven forwards, three defencemen and the backup goaltender) making the remaining 18 per cent.

In other words, these teams' top 11 players average about $4.2-million apiece, whereas the players on the low end, filling out checking lines and minor roles, make an average of about $930,000.

Here are a few more breakdowns of these top five teams:

Some of the noteworthy numbers there? These teams spend nearly one-third of their total salary on their top forward line, with another 19 per cent on their top two defenders. Add in the No. 1 goalie and you have what I'm calling the "Starting 6," a group that takes home nearly 60 per cent of these five teams' payroll.

The top six players on the NHL's top five teams average more than $5.5-million each, which leaves only $23.5-million for the other 14 to 17 players on the roster (depending on the number of healthy scratches involved).

I haven't crunched all the numbers on how this has evolved over time since last season, but I'd be willing to wager that those low end numbers have continued to fall as the "Starting 6" and top 11 players pull in more and more of the pie. Cap or no cap, the skilled players are getting their contracts; it's everyone else who's fighting for what's left.

And that's probably the way it should be.