Hockey

It’s confirmed: There will be a salary cap in the NHL playoffs (starting this season)
Marc-Olivier Cook
It’s confirmed: There will be a salary cap in the NHL playoffs (starting this season)
Credit: Getty Images

Big news in the NHL: starting next season… the salary cap will count in the playoffs. Clubs (hello Lightning, Panthers and Golden Knights) will no longer be allowed to go over the cap in the playoffs, and they'll have to have a “legal” lineup for every game. It's a big change.

In recent years, the fact that the salary cap was not respected during the spring dance caused a stir.

It got a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons… because in the end, it was as if clubs were giving themselves a certain advantage in order to have a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup. We remember that…

Because in reality, here's the technique that was used: teams were able to “take advantage” of injuries to key players to make other acquisitions at the trade deadline. Just think of Mark Stone in Vegas, Matthew Tkachuk in Florida, Nikita Kucherov in Tampa… But once the playoffs started, injured players were still allowed to return to the game without this having a direct impact on their respective team's payroll. This will no longer be the case. I'm inclined to think it's a good thing,but I also wonder whether teams will try to find ways around the rules in other ways… All in all, it's going to change the way each team's management works. This rule was needed to bring a little more stability… and it also allows the NHL to establish a certain parity for the teams that will be in a position to earn their ticket to the playoffs.

I like it, it's a change, and it's got the potential to change a lot of things in the playoffs too

'Overtime'

– I love his personality.

– Seen it for what it is.

– Whew. Not easy!

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