Unique one-of-a-kind NHL exception could be granted to the Columbus Blue Jackets
Photo credit: The Columbus Dispatch
Following the passing of Blue Jackets Johnny Gaudreau, the NHL may allow the team to remain below the salary cap floor for next season.
The Columbus Blue Jackets suddenly find themselves below the NHL salary cap floor, which is $65 million, with the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau. They are just over $2.7 million below what all teams typically must meet simply to be cap-compliant. These are obviously extenuating circumstances and the team would have ample reason to request an exemption from the rule.
According to Karine Hains from The Hockey News:
The salary cap floor in the league this season stands at $65 M and with Gaudreau's salary coming off the books, the Ohio outfit finds itself at $62,301,666 M which is to say $2,698,334 M away from being cap compliant.
The salary cap floor in the league this season stands at $65 M and with Gaudreau's salary coming off the books, the Ohio outfit finds itself at $62,301,666 M which is to say $2,698,334 M away from being cap compliant.
And that raises the question: should the NHL now punish the Blue Jackets for a circumstance entirely beyond their control?
As the NBA has already set a standard for in similar circumstances, the league allows for an exception called the Disabled Player Exception: this enables teams to replace those who could be "out for the season due to injury or death." The NHL should look upon this freak, unfortunate occurrence as an opportunity to offer a comparable kind of reprieve to the Blue Jackets, for this season at least, and then the rules would once again apply to the team for the 2025-26 season.
| POLL | ||
2 SEPTEMBRE | 143 ANSWERS Unique one-of-a-kind NHL exception could be granted to the Columbus Blue Jackets Should the NHL allow the Blue Jackets to remain under the salary cap floor as a one-year exception? | ||
| Yes | 117 | 81.8 % |
| No | 26 | 18.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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