The NHL's salary cap prediction and why it impacts the Blackhawks.

The NHL made an announcement today that was tremendously well received by general managers across the league. The league announced that it expects the salary cap ceiling next year to be anywhere between $72 million dollars and $74 million dollars. That means teams with long term commitments to their star players will likely get a little breathing room to acquire free agents or resign existing RFA or UFA talent. However there is a catch, according to ESPN's Pierre Lebrun those estimates are based on the Canadian dollar remaining where it is, something many believe will not be the case. As oil prices continue to drop, so does the value of the Looney, and so does the value of the NHL's biggest money making franchises. What this means for Blackhawks fans is simple, players that likely would have been shipped out of town as a necessity to stay below the cap may be able to stay with the organization if the projections are accurate. When you consider the names on that list included Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook, it's easy to see why this is huge for the Blackhawks. However on that very same note the Blackhawks could stand to lose one or more of those very same players if the Canadian dollar continues to fall. Blackhawks fans are about to find themselves much more interested in the Canadian economy than they ever imagined. If teams commit too much salary based on these projections, they could find themselves in a horrible situation next season. Only time will tell how each individual general manager reacts to the news.

Bettman stressed that the $73M cap figure depends greatly on Cdn dollar not going down much further — Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) December 8, 2014