from James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail,

The NHL’s silly season will begin in earnest this week, and there are some extra wrinkles this year. The league’s 31st team, in Las Vegas, is expected to be approved on Wednesday, followed by the NHL awards, followed by the first round of the entry draft on Friday in Buffalo.

The interview period for unrestricted free agents opens a day later, giving teams six days to speak with players leading up to when they can sign them at noon on July 1.

According to several executives on the weekend, three things are conspiring to make this one of the busiest two-week periods in history for NHL player movement:

1. The salary cap isn’t expected to rise much at all. Even if the NHL Players’ Association greenlights the 5-per-cent growth factor, the cap will go up only about $1.5-million to just shy of $73-million. The final cap number is expected to be announced within the next few days. It won’t give teams a lot of flexibility.

continued