More than a week after the free agent market opened, we could have expected more action in the NHL. With the number of teams caught in the throat (7 teams) and those under the floor (2 teams), transactions are still pending.
Those impatient for action in the NHL, and especially the CH, don't understand why there is so little movement. Journalist Andy Strickland may have a start to answering that question. It seems, according to what one NHL GM told him, that making trades is very difficult these days...
With the cap having been stable for years and likely to increase very little over the next few seasons, it seems that GMs aren't too keen on receiving bad contracts. It's the future of their roster that's at stake, and they have to be very selective with the players that will join the team.
On the other hand, it is also important to know that there are many uncompensated free agents that are pushing teams to move. Nazem Kadri and John Klingberg, to name only two, must put a lot of pressure on the GMs to free up space to get their services. As usual, it only takes one deal to knock over the first domino and activate the market.
According to the collective agreement, teams are allowed to exceed the salary cap by 10% during the off-season. Teams that prefer to wait still have plenty of time to meet the limit. They will even be able to play with their roster in-house, at worst, at the season opener. However, given the number of rosters that are not being taken, don't expect a status quo.
