Less than one week into the 2010 NHL season and some teams are already feeling the cap crunch.
In a typical example, the Ottawa Senators sent David Hale to the AHL after a strong camp because the team could not afford to keep him on the roster as a seventh defenseman. In the pre-lockout era, teams would routinely keep 13 forwards and seven defensemen on the active roster.
Not anymore.
Teams can save a few dollars by keeping only 12 forwards, six defencemen and two goaltenders with the big club, while relegating all others to the AHL (or, CHL etc). This hurts bubble players who deserve a chance with the big club.
In a more extreme case of cap crunch, the New Jersey Devils played a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with only 15 players. That’s five fewer than normal, and three fewer than they are technically allowed to play with.
Why did only 15 Devils suit up against the Pens?
Amazingly, they could not afford to call up healthy, eligible players from their AHL affiliate (Albany Devils) to fill in for injured players, Anton Volchenkov and Brian Rolston.&nbs ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Matthew Rutledge-Taylor
15 Devils? Fixing The Cap Crunch: Treating Bubble Players More Fairly
October 13th, 2010 by Matthew Rutledge-Taylor Leave a reply »
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