GAME ON: CAP GYMNASTICS KICK OFF NEW SEASON

TORONTO, ON — The new NHL season has arrived and taking centre stage is, of course, the salary cap. Teams juggled, maneuvered and MacGyver’d their ways to cap compliancy in the days leading up to Monday’s opening day roster deadline, and in all honesty some situations were damn impressive.

The Vegas Golden Knights utilized their full LTIR capture placement, while the Tampa Bay Lightning landed only two dollars shy of their upper limit. A few other teams got as close as they could like the Toronto Maple Leafs ($8,551), Washington Capitals ($13,333) and Vancouver Canucks ($28,333). These teams will earn the most benefit during the season in maximizing their cap space and LTIR overage space when needed. Well done.

After management and capologists worked their magic, the result was some players who should have made the big squad instead received a ticket to the AHL. But players Shane Wright and Emil Heineman, for example, will see their time in the NHL soon enough.

Other teams are still trying to move out some bodies and the trade conversations picked up since Friday. Teams like the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals have continued to explore the markets, for varying reasons, and most of that talk will carry well into the season.

The Habs tried to move out Joel Armia before placing him on waivers, but with two years left on his contract at a $3.4 million cap hit, there just isn’t a fit anywhere presently.

Columbus has been trying to move out one of its defencemen – Adam Boqvist’s name out there – but so far that’s proven to be a challenge. Maybe talks begin to heat up now that all the rosters are submitted, but we shall see.

The Capitals still want to upgrade their top-six and bring in some extra scoring punch, and that isn’t a secret. Washington GM Brian MacLellan has been very vocal about wanting another secondary weapon and the pressure seems to be mounting on Anthony Mantha, whom the club dangled all summer long.

Ottawa is still trying to create cap space to accommodate a Shane Pinto contract – and maybe Josh Bailey, who was in camp on a PTO. Now that rosters are in, the Senators could place Josh Norris on LTIR if he isn’t ready to play this month, and that would give the club more than enough space to sign Pinto and Bailey. But if they want Norris back in the lineup once he’s healthy, they’ll still need to have the appropriate cap space to accommodate his full cap hit. Many argue this problem is self-inflicted and those people are right.

Around the League, there are other storylines to keep tabs on as the games get played, such as:

• How long does it take the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks to start selling off assets? Both clubs will be looking to move pieces this season as their rebuilds continue, and both have multiple pending UFAs that make perfect rental options for contenders.

• The New York Islanders are in an interesting position. And I’m talking about up top, not on the ice. I wonder if this is Lou Lamoriello’s last season as GM of the Isles. Talk about his future with the club is starting to grow. I am not expecting any type of change mid-season, but it is possible we begin to witness the transition of power next summer. Whenever the Islanders bring in a new GM, I’m led to believe it will come from outside the organization.

• In Philly, the Flyers have fully embraced their own rebuild. I wrote about some of the trade candidates we’ll see this season and that included goaltender Carter Hart. How he performs this season could play a big role in where he suits up in 2024-25. The Flyers are not against moving him, though I suspect if a trade does go down, it is more likely to occur next off-season.

• The topic of expansion will continue to hover all season, but the NHL is in no hurry. Your definition of “hurry” is probably different than that of the League’s, but with outside interest in ownership a franchise on the rise, is it out of the realm of possibility to see a few new NHL clubs in the coming years? Calculated prediction: In about 5-10 years, we’ll see this league grow to 36 teams. Atlanta, Houston and Salt Lake City all seem to be frontrunners for future franchises, with Kansas City, Portland, Quebec City and San Diego among other potential locations.

• You can’t talk about expansion without addressing the elephant in the college-sized room. The Arizona Coyotes can play at Mullett Arena through, at least the 2024-25 season. There are options to prolong things, but those were believed to be contingent on a new arena being built. Ownership is still looking for local options. We’ll see how things progress.

• All-Star 2024 is coming to Toronto, and while we at TFP will have a few fun activities planned in town, the NHL is going all-out, and you can expect to see several events spread out throughout the city. As the women’s game continues to grow, expect to see some type of contest involving PWHL players beyond the skills competition.

We’re in for another exciting season, with new faces coming in, rebuilt teams ready to make noise, and contenders aiming to dethrone the Golden Knights. Giddy up!

Oh, and I have the Dallas Stars beating the New Jersey Devils in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Check out all our Season Predictions here.

GLOBAL SERIES

My colleague Dennis Bernstein joined the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes in Melbourne last month and while I am in no way jealous nor bitter about staying at home and not joining him on that adventure, it sounds like the NHL may be planning a return to Australia in the not-too-distant future.

Dennis touched on his experience in his latest column, which highlighted a packed Rod Laver Arena for the two exhibition games. The fans were decked out in jerseys from all 32 NHL clubs, bought up the merch and witnessed firsthand how much of a talent Coyotes rookie Logan Cooley is.

Yes, the icemakers came across some early challenges, but those hurdles were quickly cleared, and both the NHL and the Melbourne-based events team are now equipped for future games.

As we first reported prior to the start of last season, playing NHL games in Australia is not a one-off. Either next September or some time in ahead of the 2025-26 season, the expectation is the NHL will return with at least one more pair of exhibition games. Regular-season games are likely to follow in another future season, from the sounds of things.

But Australia is not the only new nation the NHL has explored dipping its toe in.

Aside from a return to the Land Down Under, and outside of Europe, there is chatter the NHL is considering the possibility of playing games – likely exhibition games – in Abu Dhabi, as I first reported on Saturday’s season opener of The Hot Stove on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio.

There is interest to host the NHL from the United Arab Emirates and we may not have to wait too long before seeing at least two NHL clubs facing off against each other in that wealthy nation. Yes, there are obstacles that may prevent this from happening in the near future, but sources suggest it is on the NHL’s radar.

As for the rest of the Global Series, we’ll enjoy four games in Stockholm in November with the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs playing two regular-season games each. We usually make an appearance overseas for these games, but a scheduling conflict may keep us out of Sweden this season – too bad, because Stockholm is one of my favourite cities on the planet, but we have something fun we’re cooking up that same weekend. Stay tuned.

The NHL will return to Europe in the 2024-25 campaign and while the League is still weighing its options, expect Finland to be on the docket.

AWARDS, DRAFT 2024

The NHL’s preference is to keep the NHL Awards and Draft in the same city moving forward. It worked well in Nashville this past June and it remains the objective moving forward.

It seems like a certainty that the 2024 NHL Draft will take place in Las Vegas, but there have been obstacles tied to the Awards. A League source told me it remains possible the Awards are hosted in another city ahead of the Draft, but the NHL is trying to avoid that.

Remember, cities pay leagues to host their marquee events and the same goes for the NHL Awards and NHL Draft.

According to multiple sources, T-Mobile Arena is already booked for one of the two events. It is unclear as to which, though I suspect it to be the Draft. A report surfaced last week from TSN’s Chris Johnston that one of the Vegas venues the NHL has explored to host the Draft is The Sphere. One Vegas-based source told me that could be in play for the Awards.

As the NHL continues to navigate through its options – which include venues/theatres inside the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, MGM Park, Bellagio and others – other cities/teams that have expressed interest in hosting the NHL Awards and/or NHL Draft in the future include Montreal (again), Los Angeles, Edmonton, Detroit and the New York Islanders.