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Salary cap increase: an advantage and also a disadvantage for the CH
Credit: Christian Dvorak (4.45 M$), Joel Armia (3.4 M$), Jake Evans (1.7 M$) and David Savard (3.5 M$) may not return with the Canadiens next year. I expect that Savard and Evans will stay in town for the sake of the exercise… But in my eyes, the chances of seeing D-Vo and Armia return are slim. […]
Christian Dvorak (4.45 M$), Joel Armia (3.4 M$), Jake Evans (1.7 M$) and David Savard (3.5 M$) may not return with the Canadiens next year.

I expect that Savard and Evans will stay in town for the sake of the exercise… But in my eyes, the chances of seeing D-Vo and Armia return are slim.

If we add the salaries of D-Vo and Armia to the current cap space of the Canadiens (which won’t have changed by that time unless there is a trade), Kent Hughes could have nearly 14 M$ in extra space to maneuver this summer. Right now, the Canadiens have 6,777,084 $ in cap space.

But be careful: this is without counting the increase in the NHL salary cap.

The league’s revenues are good right now; the NHL has cancelled the escrow system until the end of the season… And this means we could see an increase of nearly 10 million dollars in the salary cap.

Initially, the Canadiens had an advantage because there was still a lot of money coming off their books. 14 M$ is enough to make a big splash in the free-agent market…

But where it gets a bit more “complicated” is that the situation changes for the Canadiens if all the other NHL teams also benefit from an additional 10 M$ to maneuver this summer.

Marco D’Amico wrote an article on the Montreal Hockey Now site regarding the subject:

It’s interesting.

Even though the Canadiens could benefit from the increase in the salary cap… It is a certain disadvantage at the same time because all the other teams will be able to benefit as well.

For example, if the cap only increased by a few million, the Canadiens would have had a great time.

The Habs could have freed up salary on their cap with the contracts that are not returning, and they would have had more maneuverability than the other big teams, because most of them already have a significant salary cap.

It changes the game if everyone can spend an extra 10 M$!

Ultimately, this could change Kent Hughes’ plans.

The Canadiens’ GM will have to be creative if he wants to bring a big player to town since other NHL teams will also have the money necessary to make a big splash in the free-agent market.

It promises to be exciting! 


In Brief

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