Evan’s NHL Daily: Salary Cap To Rise, Annunen’s Growth

For the first time in a few years, the NHL might see a significant rise in the salary cap next season. That sound you hear is the sound of GM’s around the league breathing a gigantic sigh of relief.

With the Colorado Avalanche, they may still be in the hunt for a goaltender before the season starts, but there’s no doubt they’ve seen growth in Justus Annunen’s game.

All that and more in this Thursday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

The Avalanche trimmed down their roster even more on Wednesday morning, sending Oskar Olausson and four others to the Eagles after strong showings.

Against the Stars, Justus Annunen made one last push to show he deserves the backup role to start the season.

Fear not, Avalanche fans. Mikko Rantanen was not at practice Wednesday, but he should be just fine. Also, Bednar praises Annunen, and makes it clear where he wants MacDermid to play this year.

On Thursday, look for my 1-on-1 with Ross Colton as CHN+ content. Use the code “evan10” to get $10 off a year subscription to CHN+, and this code will be going away soon. A subscription to CHN now works on all National Hockey Now sites, thanks to our Universal subscription, and I’ve liked to some other + content around the network down below.

Around The NHL

For the first time in years, the NHL will likely see a big bump in the salary cap next summer.

According to Gary Bettman, the league is projecting the cap to rise to between $87-88 million, although it’s still an early projection. That would be huge for a lot of teams, but certainly the Avalanche, who are hoping to get their Captain back next season.

In addition to the salary cap, Bettman talked about the idea of more expansion, and just how much the expansion fee would be for a team looking to enter the league.

National Hockey Now

In Colorado, Ryan Graves played with Cale Makar a fair bit. He’s using that to his advantage with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as he’s set to play with Kris Letang. (+)

Is a rookie going to help the Boston Bruins down the middle?

Quentin Musty was one pick away from potentially joining the Avalanche. Instead, he went to the Sharks and is already impressing.

Five reasons why the Detroit Red Wings could make the playoffs (+)

Cal Foote is now available for free on waivers