For quite a few years, the salary cap was not of much concern to Colorado Avalanche fans. The rebuilding team was closer to the salary floor with their bevy of young players on entry-level contracts. That’s not the case anymore. With Matt Duchene, Erik Johnson, and Gabriel Landeskog now on expensive long-term deals — and players like Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie set to join them before next season — the team and its followers are now trying to figure out how it’s all going to fit.
Late Thursday evening, we received a report from the Journal De Montreal’s Renaud Lavoie that the NHL Players Association will vote to exercise the 5% escalator clause afforded to them by the CBA.