How will a flat salary cap impact free agency for the Montreal Canadiens?

The salary cap isn’t going to go up for a while, and it’ll impact how the Montreal Canadiens work around free agency moving forward.

The perception of what the salary cap will be in response to the NHL pause has changed. Many worried the salary cap would go down instead of up after it was expected to be between $84 and $88 million. That may not worry the Montreal Canadiens too much, but other teams in the league would have beads of sweat falling repeatedly. Now we know that the salary cap won’t go down, but it’s definitely not going up.

The NHL is entering an era of a flat salary cap, which could see it stay at $81.5 million or only go up by small increments each year. Again, the Montreal Canadiens are in a good position and won’t be too burdened by the cap staying the same next season. Not only do they have approximately $4.5 million left in space, but Dale Weise’s $2.35 million, Christian Folin’s $800,000 and Keith Kinkaid’s $1.750 million are also coming off the books.

Another thing that will help down the road are compliance buyouts that the league will likely provide to help teams in cap hell. If the Habs choose to buy out Karl Alzner, it’ll be another $4.625 million off the books.

There will be enough to sign Max Domi and Victor Mete, but the focus is on free agency. As I looked at earlier, the Montreal Canadiens are in a good position to sign Taylor Hall. However, the state of free agency is going to change drastically on the player’s end.

Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston appeared on the Steve Dangle Podcast Wednesday, breaking some of his thoughts on a flat salary cap. One of the things he said was he could see free agents taking contracts with a shorter term.

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Players, especially star players, use Free Agent Frenzy to cash in on the opportunity, trying to get top dollar for as long as possible. These UFAs will likely have to sacrifice both of those to accommodate teams.

Again the Montreal Canadiens have a massive advantage here. That’s not to say the Habs can go around throwing $80 million contracts at players, but they may be able to offer more than other teams. The competition lies in the fact that they aren’t the only teams in a similar state as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators, to name a few have money to spend as well.

How short is too short, though. Would the likes of Hall, Brayden Holtby, or Alex Pietrangelo be willing to sign 2-3 year deals at a considerable cap hit?

That scenario would be great for the Montreal Canadiens as well, who will need to start shelling out money in two years with a large portion of their core needing new contracts. The flat cap may, in fact, create a window for the Habs to actually be competitive. Marc Bergevin has always intended for the team to fight for a playoff spot, strongly avoiding the tanking route for top ten picks (even though they’re on the verge of earning their second in as many years).

If the Habs manage to add a big name on a shorter deal, expectations will surely increase. At the same time, it could also be a good bridge for the organization’s prospects to grow and become producers.

It all depends on what the various agents around the league think is best for their clients. Some teams may disregard what’s happening and spend as normal. Strategy and planning will have the Montreal Canadiens be at the top of this era, and perhaps it leads to some success along the way.