Hope? The NHL cap ceiling could actually come in higher than 71.4M
The Rangers and Jeff Gorton may be getting some good news next week, as Elliotte Friedman just dropped this tidbit in his latest 30 Thoughts.
“On the salary cap: This year’s number is $71.4 million. Before the calendar turned to 2016, the expectation was an increase to the $74M range…At the NHLPA meetings last week in Chicago, the players were told that if they did not vote to raise the salary cap by five per cent — as is their right — the number might actually drop to approximately $69.5M in 2016-17…On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer, but the decision comes with a penalty: increased escrow payments. They are putting approximately 15 per cent of their paycheques into purgatory and are tired of it.
What’s going to happen? One of two things: They will hold their noses and vote for the full five; Or, the NHL and NHLPA sit down together and hammer out the new limit. The choice isn’t nothing or five per cent — you can find a happy medium…Remember, NHLPA leadership pushes for the max. Agents push for the max. Recent history indicates the brotherhood grumbles, but does the right thing. That would bring the cap to just under $73M. We should get a clearer picture in approximately a week.” – Friedman
My Take:
Even if it isn’t the 74M the Rangers were hoping for, an extra million in cap space could mean the world of a difference in being able to fill out the roster. It could even allow the Rangers to send Tanner Glass to the AHL and make absorbing his 500K of dead space bearable and not debilitating as it would at 71.4M.
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