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Greg Wyshynski, ESPNJun 12, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
When the final pick of the 2024 NHL draft is selected, there could be less than 48 hours before the first unrestricted free agent formally switches teams in the offseason.
July 1 is when the “frenzy” begins, but the chaos should precede that for weeks. There are prominent players seeking new contracts, teams jockeying to solve significant lineup problems via trade and a salary cap that jumped a little higher than expected as a catalyst for even more player movement.
How much more will be entirely contingent on the teams.
“It depends on what some of these teams are going to do in the next two, three weeks contractually with their own players,” New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said. “Do some guys hit the market or not?”
After conversing with NHL team executives and player agents over the past few weeks, here’s a glimpse of how they see the offseason landscape.
Salary cap surprise
The NHL and the NHLPA announced over the weekend that the salary cap for next season will be set at $88 million, slightly higher than earlier projected. The salary cap floor is $65 million.
“I know the general managers and the teams are excited to have more flexibility, and it means that the revenues are as robust as we’ve been telling you all along,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “I predict that it will continue to go up. I believe we’ll continue to have robust growth in the cap.”
That was welcome news to some.
“We moved through a rebuild and now the cap is growing. Just like we drew it up,” one NHL executive said, with a laugh.
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NHL teams and agents weren’t shocked by the news. They’ve always been operating under a range of $87-88 million for this season. But the extra flexibility does go a long way.
“It could mean the difference between locking up a player or having him leave as a free agent,” one NHL player agent explained.
But it also means that those players who reach free…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/40330724/nhl-2024-offseason-predictions-trades-free-agency-stamkos-reinhart-montour-markstrom-ullmark-utah
Author : Greg Wyshynski
Publish date : 2024-06-12 13:14:44
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