Listed below is my response to the PPP Salary Cap Challenge. I'd love to hear what you guys and gals think.

Goaltenders:

Jonathan Quick

Jhonas Enroth

Defense:

Duncan Keith - Marc Staal

Tobias Enstrom - Carl Gunnarsson

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Dmitri Orlov

Andrew Ference

Forwards:

Daniel Sedin - Pavel Datsyuk - David Backes

Alex Tanguay - Claude Giroux - Jordan Eberle

Jeff Skinner - Logan Couture - Stephen Weiss

Matt Cooke - Adam Henrique - Gabriel Landeskog

Jason Zucker

Peter Regin

Detailed information and rationales after the jump.

Cap Hits (Total: $62,909,294) (Remaining: $1,390,706)

1)Pavel Datsyuk $6,700,000

2)Daniel Sedin $6,100,000

3)Duncan Keith $5,538,462

4)David Backes $4,500,000

5)Marc Staal $3,975,000

6)Claude Giroux $3,750,000

7)Tobias Enstrom $3,750,000

8)Gabriel Landeskog $3,575,000

9)Alex Tanguay $3,500,000

10)Stephen Weiss $3,100,000

11)Logan Couture $2,875,000

12)Andrew Ference $2,250,000

13)Jonathan Quick $1,800,000

14)Matt Cooke $1,800,000

15)Oliver Ekman-Larsson $1,750,000

16)Jeff Skinner $1,400,000

17)Carl Gunnarsson $1,325,000

18)Jordan Eberle $1,158,333

19)Dmitri Orlov $900,000

20)Adam Henrique $854,166

21)Jason Zucker $833,333

22)Peter Regin $800,000

23)Jhonas Enroth $675,000

Teams

Anaheim: Not represented

Boston: Andrew Ference

Buffalo: Jhonas Enroth

Carolina: Jeff Skinner

Calgary: Alex Tanguay

Chicago: Duncan Keith

Columbus: Not represented

Colorado: Gabriel Landeskog

Dallas: Not represented

Detroit: Pavel Datsyuk

Edmonton: Jordan Eberle

Florida: Stephen Weiss

Los Angeles: Jonathan Quick

Minnesota: Jason Zucker

Montreal: Not represented

Nashville: Not represented

New Jersey: Adam Henrique

New York Islanders: Not represented

New York Rangers: Marc Staal

Ottawa: Peter Regin

Philadelphia: Claude Giroux

Phoenix: Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Pittsburgh: Matt Cooke

San Jose: Logan Couture

St. Louis: David Backes

Tampa Bay: Not represented

Toronto: Carl Gunnarsson

Vancouver: Daniel Sedin

Washington: Dmitri Orlov

Winnipeg: Tobias Enstrom

Drafts (Round)

2011 (1) Gabriel Landeskog

2010 (1) Jeff Skinner

2010 (2) Jason Zucker

2009 (1) Oliver Ekman-Larsson

2009 (2) Dmitri Orlov

2008 (1) Jordan Eberle

2008 (3) Adam Henrique

2007 (1) Logan Couture

2007 (7) Carl Gunnarsson

2006 (1) Claude Giroux

2006 (2) Jhonas Enroth

2005 (1) Marc Staal

2005 (3) Jonathan Quick

2004 (3) Peter Regin

2003 (2) David Backes

2003 (8) Tobias Enstrom

2002 (2) Duncan Keith

2001 (1) Stephen Weiss

1999 (1) Daniel Sedin

1998 (1) Alex Tanguay

1998 (6) Pavel Datsyuk

1997 (6) Matt Cooke

1997 (8) Andrew Ference

Some quick rationale

- With Datsyuk's play in every area of the ice, I couldn't leave him off the team -- even at that price.

- While Couturier was a tempting pick, I opted for Giroux at less than $4M. Tough call but I think it's the right one.

- Enroth made a lot of sense to me in goal. He's super cheap, not a first rounder, and is used to the backup role.

- I refused to take any Montreal Canadiens under any circumstances. Suck it, Pacioretty.

- Landeskog feels a bit pricey but he took care of some important categories. He's a 2011 pick, he's an Avalanche who's signed through 2012-13, and he's a strong defensive forward.

- Jason Zucker is an affordable player who will be able to play up or down in a lineup as time passes. Minnesota's got a solid player/contract there. Also, he plays for Minnesota.

- David Backes provides a great scoring powerforward at a reasonable price. It was agony choosing between Backes or Pietrangelo but I was able to save some cash in the 2008 draft year with late-ELCs in Eberle and Henrique so I took that route instead.

Challenges / Suggestions for Others

- Colorado has so few contracts that it was a challenge using them

- Tampa Bay has some good options (Purcell, St.Louis) who were never drafted at all. Tough team to use.

- Roleplayers often get shorter deals and vets generally make more money. This meant that finding inexpensive roleplayers who didn't eat up valuable draft slots was tricky.

- For some reason, I found 2004 a tough year to use. Maybe it'll just be me...

Cheers, gang! It was a lot of fun!