from Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times,

"I don't want to predict out because things can change," Vinik said. "But for the foreseeable future our strategy is to have a great team on the ice and spend at or near the salary cap."

Tampa Bay is spending above this season's $64.3 million cap because of the accounting relief gained by putting defensemen Mattias Ohlund and Brian Lee on long-term injured reserved.

Vinik declined to say how much money the team is losing, though he said losses "have come down dramatically" from when he bought the club in 2010. Spending at or near the cap, he said, is part of the plan to eliminate those losses.

"We want to have an extremely competitive hockey team," Vinik said. "It's part of a strategy. First of all, I'm competitive. We want to win. We want to win a Stanley Cup. It's a lot more fun for our fans, but it also helps us make the playoffs and, hopefully, go deep into the playoffs which is good for the financials."

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