It’ll be money in, money out for the Montreal Canadiens, but not for salary cap reasons
Marco D’Amico of the Starr and D’Amico Show discussed how the Montreal Canadiens are poised to add to their roster with the cap space they are accruing. However, as he mentions, because the Canadiens are so deep at every position, any more will require a money in, money out transaction.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Marco D’Amico: “So right now the Canadiens have, at last recollection, of about if you remove the three goalies from the equation right now, they have about $3.6 million in cap space. But then you have to put Kaiden Guhle on IR to start the season. He will still count against the salary cap, and you have to keep another defenseman to replace him.
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So theoretically, the Canadiens will have probably 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies counting against the cap when the season starts. Knocking on wood, assuming there are no other injuries between now and then, that’ll leave the Canadiens at about $2.7 million, 2.8 million dollars in salary cap space. That is, to date, salary cap space.
That amount will continue to increase as the season goes on, and this is the true advantage that the Canadians have over previous seasons where they had Carey Price’s contract on LTIR or, you know, Patrik Laine last year. There is no anchor, so the Canadiens continue to accrue and accrue and accrue.
So by November, December, we’re talking about $8 million in cap space, potentially more because Kaiden Guhle will go back and someone will go down. So it could even go up to, I calculate about $7.9 million if you did that. And then you reach the deadline, we’re talking about $16 million. So the Canadiens have a lot of, a lot more room to work with than we think, and you also have to factor in, Shawn, there’s no way that they can add to this roster.
Like, if they can’t waive one of their extra forwards, they’re definitely going to have to trade one to acquire one. So the way that I see it is, any acquisition for the Montreal Canadiens at this point will require money out simply just from a roster perspective because they are so full at every position. Not necessarily with the ideal 2C or maybe not the ideal second left winger for a cup-contending team, but they have very good depth right now in all positions.
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So any acquisition is going to require money in, money out.”
NHLRumors.com Note: What Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have done with the Montreal Canadiens is truly remarkable. They have set this team up for long-term success. Not to mention how they have gotten the core players to buy into taking a little less money to win. This mentality has set up the Canadiens to be players once again at the trade deadline or even before that.
Cap space is great, but using it to a team’s advantage is another thing entirely. Montreal’s brilliance will let them add the necessary pieces to build a Stanley Cup-winning roster. And given the contracts for some of these players, any move the Canadiens make will require a player to go out in any deal.
It will be interesting to see how GM Kent Hughes manipulates the salary cap and gets the right players for his roster.
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