The search for a new salary cap site is picking up steam.

ICYMI. New site ready to pick up the torch from CapGeek? http://t.co/Maws88dBNo pic.twitter.com/S5gsRqfIrF — Hockey Central (@SNHockeyCentral) May 7, 2015

In the months after Capgeek ceased operation, analysts, writers, and fans were left without a key tool for evaluating NHL salaries. In the cap era, player contracts are often as important as a player’s skill set. Trades are frequently made to free salary cap space (i.e. Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk, David Clarkson, etc.) and for rumor followers, precarious team positions relative to the salary cap (i.e. Chicago Blackhawks) fuel speculation about future deals.

Without a tool like Capgeek, this type of research and discussion became exceedingly difficult.

Fortunately, the wait for the next Capgeek appears to be mostly over.

While no single site has yet emerged as a clear-cut, one-stop replacement for Capgeek’s functionality, a number of new places offer pieces of the NHL salary cap puzzle. Here, we’ll take a look at the three most likely candidates to emerge as the internet’s new NHL salary cap website of choice.

1. General Fanager

Maple Leafs fan works overtime to fill CapGeek's void. Our Q&A: http://t.co/9q1IfXPz7R @lukefoxjukebox @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/dO4IwvitOn — Hockey Central (@SNHockeyCentral) May 28, 2015

General Fanager is perhaps the strongest overall offering online for NHL salary cap information right now.

With a clean, attractive interface, the site is easily navigated in search of cap info. General Fanager offers a number of key functions, like a filter-ready list of available UFAs and RFAs, a running record of recent signings, salary cap info for each team and a fully-updated NHL draft order with draft pick trade histories included alongside each selection.

Recently, GF added an “offer sheet eligibility” page. This feature is particularly interesting as analysts ponder offseason offer sheets (like the recent Dougie Hamilton situation). General Fanager outlines all of the prerequisites a team must meet to make an offer sheet and includes an NHL logo list of all teams that are eligible to prepare an offer sheet at each salary level.

The array of salary cap data presented by GF is the right mix of basic needs and additional features to eventually emerge as the go-to site for cap knowledge.

*for more on General Fanager, check out my interview with the site’s creator here.

2. War On Ice

BTW, the best new @war_on_ice feature is the actual slide next to contracts that slid. http://t.co/wGdidJEi1F #sabres pic.twitter.com/xTuFsy1eVa — Alexandra Mandrycky (@alexgoogs) May 30, 2015

War-On-Ice is known first for their huge database of modern statistics for skaters, their advanced work on goalies, and their development of hockey WAR among many other features.

With CapGeek shut down, WOI has expanded its site offerings to include wide-ranging salary information. Listing team cap commitments, performance bonus totals, and player salary numbers, WOI offers the full suite of salary info that fans demand. However, WOI’s best feature is its original buyout calculator.

Though other cap sites are scrambling to add their own versions, WOI originated this great feature among the new cohort. As players like Mike Richards, PA Parenteau, and Alex Semin (along with many others) have been bought out recently, this site feature provides fans with a tool needed to calculate buyout impacts on team salaries.

3. Hockey’s Cap

Looks like best answer to my @capgeek question was what @hockeyscap has created https://t.co/jTn72a3pqa Well done. — James Mirtle (@mirtle) June 24, 2015

Hockey’s Cap is quickly earning a name as a viable replacement option for CapGeek users. Like General Fanager and War On Ice, HC offers salary info on free agents, team cap situations, a buyout calculator and a detailed CBA questions and answers section.

These site features are fantastic, but are somewhat overshadowed by HC’s greatest creation; the Armchair GM. The Armchair GM tool was one of CapGeek’s most-loved features, allowing fans to take over their favorite team (or any other lineup) and make the trades, signings, promotions, and demotions they wished to see—all while ensuring that the fantasy lineup they’ve created is cap-compliant.

This feature has yet to be replicated by other cap sites and has spawned a lively forum where users post their lineup creations for public critique.

Thoughts on this roster? https://t.co/FXAnTIw9QE #pens #NHLDraft #NHLDraft2015 #FreeAgency #nhl pic.twitter.com/Vs1CRl6VeF — Kris (@gdsmack267) June 26, 2015

With a promise to update and improve the already-great feature, Hockey’s Cap boasts a lineup tool that positions their website well in the CapGeek replacements conversation.

*the creator of Hockey’s Cap has agreed to an interview (forthcoming) – please check back for further details.

Honorable Mentions

Red Wings rename trophy to honor late CapGeek founder http://t.co/3pQjhan6cy pic.twitter.com/Uq7UaF34rm — Puck Drunk Love (@PuckDrunkLove) May 16, 2015

In a field as competitive as hockey analysis, cracking a top-three list is tough. NHL Numbers, Cap Friendly, and Spotrac all offer salary information services with features that are worth a look for fans and analysts a like. Of these, Cap Friendly’s provision of a coach salaries listing is a unique feature that other cap sites have yet to duplicate.

While no one site carries the full load that CapGeek carried on its own, no website needs to work alone. New cap sites recognize the need to work together on sharing accurate, difficult-to-source data and to provide their information in sleek, easily-accessed formats. Thanks to strong competition between these great sites, fans have never had more access to salary information. Nor have fans ever enjoyed such depth to the ways in which they connect with their favorite players and teams.

What do you think, hockey fans? Which of the new salary cap sites provides the best overall online experience? Or do you pick and choose between the different sites depending on specific needs?