Minimal margin

Marc Bergevin offered a valuable clue to his plan to meet the salary cap of 81.5 million for the 2020-2021 season. Unlike the last few years, the Canadian will keep 22 players in his squad, one less than the allowable limit.

This strategy is not revolutionary. In the past, the New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, to name a few, have advocated this approach of a 21 or 22 player squad in order to to comply with the salary limit.

In videoconference after the acquisition of Tyler Toffoli, Bergevin looked nothing like a general manager nervous about the management of the salary cap for the next season.

“We have scenarios where we go under the ceiling,” said the CEO of CH. For now, there is no problem. But it is certain that it would be more difficult to keep a formation with 23 players. “

“Last year the Maple Leafs found themselves in a similar situation,” he continued. Many teams face this reality. A few years ago, the Devils even played with 19 players. These are things that happen, but we have to be careful. We have the advantage of counting on our school team in the American League in Laval. It is an advantageous geographical location. There are some of our players who will be playing in Laval next year. We will have to count our pennies to manage our extras over the next year. “

At 81,493 million

The newspaper took out his calculator to find a way to get below the salary cap. It is already possible for Bergevin and John Sedgwick, the specialist in salary issues, to respect the 81.5 million.

But the CH would just come out of the water. With the training offered by the Newspaper, the Habs would arrive at 81,493 million. Bergevin would therefore have a tiny leeway of only $ 7,000.

The CEO of CH has already said he would like to have a cushion of 1.5 to 2 million. For now, he remains far from his goal.

In this formation of 22 players, we note the absence of Jordan Weal. The 28-year-old winger is reportedly wearing the Laval Rocket uniform. Weal, who has a guaranteed 1.4 million NHL contract, would suffer the same fate as Karl Alzner over the past two seasons.

According to NHL rules, it is possible to deduct $ 1.075 million from the team’s payroll when a player ends up in the American League. This is an interesting option for the CH. An even happier, but unlikely, scenario would be for Weal to be claimed on waivers at the conclusion of the next camp.

The Habs would therefore turn to a 13^e striker with a smaller salary in Alex Belzile.
At $ 700,000, Belzile is a perfect candidate for this position.

Ryan poehling

In a context where there are no injuries in the camp, Ryan Poehling has a good chance of opening the next season in Laval. At 21, the American needs to play on a regular basis and he will continue his training with Joël Bouchard. The 1st round pick in 2017 hadn’t played a single game in the bubble in Toronto. Despite his rookie contract, he has a payroll footprint of 0.925 million, or $ 225,000 more than Belzile. For CH, any saving is an important saving.

Noah juulsen

There is a risk with Juulsen. CH could lose a former first-round pick (2015) on waivers. But there is no room for the right-handed defender in Montreal. Juulsen also needs to make up for lost time due to numerous injuries by playing several games with the Rocket.

Total goalkeepers

$ 14.85 Million

• Price: $ 10.5M
• Allen: $ 3.958 million

Total defenders

$ 23.839 Million

• Weber: $ 7.857 million
• Petry: $ 5.5M
• Kulak: $ 1.85 million
• Edmundson: $ 3.5 million
• Romanov: $ 0.894 million
• Chiarot: $ 3.5 million
• Mete: $ 0.735M

Total attackers

$ 38,521 Million

• Drouin: $ 5.5M
• Anderson: $ 5.5 million
• Byron: $ 3.4 million
• Kotkaniemi: $ 0.925 million
• Tatar: $ 4.8M
• Danault: $ 3.083 million
• Suzuki: $ 0.863 million
• Toffoli: $ 4.25 million
• Armia: $ 2.6M
• Evans: $ 0.75 million
• Gallagher: $ 3.75 million
• Lehkonen: $ 2.4 million
• Belzile: $ 0.7 M

Weal (in Laval): $ 0.325 million

Alzner (contract bought out): $ 4.283 million

Estimated space

$ 7,000

Salary cap

$ 81.5M

Payroll

$ 81,493 M