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Official: Salary cap to rise to $88 million in 2024-2025
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A big confirmation has just been announced in the NHL.

The salary cap will rise from $83.5 million to $88 million in 2024-2025.

Initially, it was to rise to $87.7 million. That’s $300,000 more than anticipated. Good news, then.

This is the first increase since before the pandemic.

In the case of the Habs, the club has a projected payroll of $78,586,250. That means they have about $9.5 million in cap space, which, I repeat, will increase at the start of next season.

Perhaps this is what Kent Hughes has been waiting for to make a sizeable acquisition. Stu Cowan (Montreal Gazette) wondered if he was due for a big acquisition.

As of today, there are 41 players under contract (out of 50). Hughes will have plenty of flexibility.

Speaking of NHL news, Gary Bettman spoke to the nation earlier this evening and confirmed what we already knew: Montreal will host the Four Nations Tournament.

The first four games will take place in the Canadian metropolis, and the last three in Boston.

But the most important match excluding the final (Canada vs. USA) will be played on Canadian soil. France Margaret Bélanger says it’s a privilege to welcome the best international players in the world.

As for the competition, which runs from February 12 to 20, here’s the complete schedule at the Bell Centre:

  • Canada vs Sweden February 12, 8pm;
  • United States vs Finland February 13, 8pm;
  • Finland vs Sweden February 15 1pm;
  • United States vs Canada February 15, 8pm.
And at the TD Garden :

  • Canada vs Finland February 17 1pm
  • Sweden vs United States February 17, 8pm
  • Final February 20, 8pm

The first six selections from the four nations will be announced on the day of the NHL amateur draft, June 28.

In addition to the salary cap increase and missing details about the Tournament of Nations, Bettman, who is excellent at giving press conferences, confirmed that the league broke an arena attendance record this season. Nearly 23 million tickets were sold and 97% of capacity was reached for games.

The league is healthy. However, expansion is not in the cards. Half a dozen teams are interested, but it’s status quo for now.

Also in the media meeting, the commissioner and deputy commissioner spoke about the LTIR, Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman.

The two hockey men still haven’t been given the green light to work in the big league. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the Leafs have turned to Craig Berube and Lane Lambert of late.

As for the long-term injured list, several general managers have expressed to Daly their desire to change the current rules regarding the absence of a salary cap in the playoffs.

The problem, according to Bettman’s assistant: he doesn’t think the Players’ Association can change/modify the rules before the current collective agreement expires. In two years, it will expire. By then, Nikita Kucherov-type situations will have arisen.

One thing is certain: the league is aware of the problem and would like to resolve it.


In gusts

– Sick.

– Good game everyone!

– Quite a performance!

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