This week, Sean Tierney has the opportunity to exchange emails with Jamie Davis, co-creator of HockeysCap.com. Davis answers questions on the armchair GM, new site features, and the need for a salary cap site – no matter what Commissioner Gary Bettman says.

Sean Tierney: Fans are flocking to your NHL salary cap site but most fans don’t know anything about the Hockey’s Cap team. Can you talk a little bit about yourself, your hockey background, and the group working to keep Hockey’s Cap updated?

Jamie Davis: To give a little background about myself, my name is Jamie Davis, and I am the lead developer at Hockey’s Cap. I am a mechanical engineer by trade; and over the course of the last 4 or 5 years have learned to web develop during my spare time. The Hockey’s Cap team is currently made up of me and my two brothers, Ryan and Chris. Ryan works in the aviation industry, and Chris in environmental consulting. The three of us have full time jobs, and are constantly working on the site during our spare time. We are from Ottawa, and together have created Hockey’s Cap over the last few months.

As you can see, @HockeysCap has super accurate up-to-date salary charts of all your favourite teams. pic.twitter.com/6fSdidYpkS — Bonk's Mullet (@BonksMullet) June 24, 2015

I was recently asked to estimate the amount of work going into the site, which is approximately 40-60 hours a week. The three of us are constantly in contact regarding contract details to add, and thoughts on site updates. The site has definitely brought us closer together, and we are having a lot of fun with it!

All three of us started playing hockey at the age of three, and learned to love the game at a young age. All three of us still play in shinny and men’s leagues, or on the outdoor rink whenever possible. Ryan and I are Senators fans, while Chris is the oddball of the family who is a Leafs fan.

As die-hard fans we were regular users of CapGeek, and when it was shutdown in January, we felt like there was a void in the hockey universe. CapGeek had become the go-to NHL salary cap tool on the internet, as it had accurate data, easy to understand CBA information, and tools such as Armchair-GM. We discussed a few times whether we felt we could create a tool that was equally as useful, and hopefully fill the void we were certain many other CapGeek fans were feeling. In late January-early February we decided that we were going to go ahead and create the site, and a few months later here we are!

ST: Of all the site’s features, the armchair GM is likely the most popular. Fans have yearned for this feature since CapGeek ceased operation, especially because other cap sites have lagged well behind in creating a similar feature. Why do you think the armchair GM feature is so popular? Can fans expect any additions or modifications to this tool in the future?

JD: You are absolutely right, Armchair-GM is our websites most popular feature, with currently over 2400 published custom rosters!

Armchair GM for June 25th I traded Sutter, Lovejoy, Spaling but I don't know for what, dont really care to be honest pic.twitter.com/lOnJfJGYnW — Ryan Wilson (@GunnerStaal) June 25, 2015

Armchair-GM’s popularity is based on the premise that the user has the tools to be the general manager of a team, allowing them to create a custom roster, and to determine the cap compliance. In the NHL, the salary cap and the team’s cap compliance is a factor that is always under consideration whenever a transaction or signing occurs. Depending on a team’s cap compliance, a trade or signing may not be possible; it also opens up other scenarios such as teams creating offer sheets to acquire RFAs from teams that have a minimal amount of cap space (avoiding this scenario is the likely reason Boston traded Dougie Hamilton).

Armchair-GM is therefore a useful tool for fans who would like the ability to determine what transaction/signing possibilities a team does or does not have. It is also a method of showing other fans what moves they hope may occur. Published armchair-GM rosters also open up the opportunity for other fans to comment on your team, thereby creating an outlet to receive feedback about your choices.

As for additions and modifications, features are constantly being added to and refined on Armchair-GM. Over the past week and a half, the trade-engine was completely overhauled, and to greatly improve the user-friendliness of the tool, rosters can now be arranged by drag-and-dropping. More updates are planned for the tool and will be released over the coming weeks.

ST: In addition to the armchair GM, Hockey’s Cap includes player and team salaries, free agent information, a buyout calculator, NHL draft resources, and a forum. Are there any other tools planned for the site in the future?

JD: We recently released a new tool, which is called Mock-Draft and Re-Draft. Mock-draft is used to select your draft expectations for the upcoming draft. It was released a few days before the 2015 NHL Entry-level draft and included a list of the top 85 prospects. It will be updated in the near future for the 2016 Entry-level draft.

Announcing a new tool! Mock-Draft -Create your draft expectations and easily text-embed to other websites and forums! pic.twitter.com/mG6WxiIKhy — Hockey's Cap (@HockeysCap) June 18, 2015

Re-draft on the other hand is used to make draft selections of past drafts, but with the added knowledge of hindsight. Currently re-draft goes back to 2011 and additional years will be added soon.

As for even more tools, we do have a couple that are planned for the future – however we aren’t prepared to announce those just yet, keep checking for updates as we release them!

ST: Which sources does Hockey’s Cap rely upon to keep up with daily contract updates?

JD: Hockey’s Cap relies on multiple sources to keep up with contract updates, some of these include your favourite TSN and Sportsnet hockey personalities, in this case mainly through their Twitter accounts. We also have additional sources that we keep in contact with directly. Contracts on the website are sourced to keep the process transparent allowing fans to determine where the information came from.

Chris Bourque Signs with @washcaps , 2 years – 2way deal. http://t.co/sDAd3yH5ZP — Hockey's Cap (@HockeysCap) July 2, 2015

ST: Though NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has expressed that he believes fans have no interest in a salary cap website, the interest in your site proves that this is false. Why do you believe that fans should have access to this type of information?

From Katy Perry to CapGeek, it’s been quite the year for Gary Bettman's tone-deaf comments involving fans. http://t.co/5IrLwbUlAX — Dave Lozo (@DaveLozo) April 25, 2015

JD: The salary cap is an important factor in every signing, trade, or transaction. A team’s cap compliance determines what options are, or are not, available to a team’s management. I feel that the fans understand this importance and actively seek out this information to determine who their team has the possibility of acquiring and signing, or if they will have to shed some of the current roster in the upcoming years.

Like you mentioned, based on the amazing responses we have received so far, I do not think my opinion is off the mark. Clearly fans are both actively seeking this information, and are appreciative of the available information in a user-friendly format.

ST: For now, Hockey’s Cap has managed to remain ad-free. How does the site earn the revenue needed to fund the site? Are advertisements an inevitable part of the future?

Our priority since inception has been accurate data and high quality tools. Until recently the site was not earning any revenue; however, as the site grows, the server cost also increases. Over the last few days we have begun experimenting with placing ads on the site, and our doing our best to make sure they are included in a non-intrusive and non-frustrating manner.

What do you think, hockey fans? Is Hockey’s Cap your go-to NHL salary cap website?