from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe,

Hockey seems to be around the corner. A Jan. 13 start date for the 2020-21 NHL season, while not settled, appears like a go. They want to play, pandemic be damned.

That could mean some last-minute holiday shopping for a few bargain-hunting general managers.

Entering the weekend, the payrolls of 10 teams were north of the salary cap’s upper limit ($81.5 million). To be cap-compliant by opening night, there will be movement in a third of the league’s cities. Those living a little too richly at the moment: Arizona, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Vegas, Vancouver, Toronto, Washington, Anaheim, Winnipeg, and Edmonton....

Of course, trading is difficult, as Don Sweeney noted this past week. It may be more difficult now, with a flat cap, uncertainty surrounding 2020-21, and internal financial constraints squeezing activity leaguewide. The likes of Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund, Sami Vatanen, Zdeno Chara, and Erik Haula remain unsigned. Teams with high-caliber restricted free agents, such as the Islanders (Mathew Barzal), Blue Jackets (Pierre-Luc Dubois), Lightning (Anthony Cirelli), and Blackhawks (Dylan Strome), are trying to make the numbers work.

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