Morning Hits: Expansion, Salary Cap, Draft Lottery, Combine, College UFAs and Comeau Suspension
  • Louis Jean: Gary Bettman: “We have no expansion process or plan. We’re not there yet.”
  • Elliotte Friedman: GMs have been told that next season the salary cap will be within $1 to $2 million of what they had projected. They projected it would be around $71 million.
  • John Shannon: GMs were notified that the Devils will take part of the draft lottery if they miss the playoffs. If the Devils win the lottery, there will be full redraw. The Devils can only select 30th.
  • Darren Dreger: There may be possible changes to the draft lottery. NHL will work on a proposal.
  • Darren Dreger: The pre-draft combine will have some changes. It’s unlikely that team will be able to do individual testing after the combine. Elliotte Friedman: NHL considering fining teams who illegally test  players after the combine. Craig Custance: A GM estimates it costs about $1000 per player when a team bring someone in for a personal workout.
  • Chris Peters: Consensus is that this year’s college free agent crop isn’t deep. Kevin Czuczman (NYI) and Ryan Haggerty (NYR) were two of the bigger names and are already signed. Katie Strang: Haggerty will report to the Rangers and not Hartford of the AHL.
  • Blue Jackets Blake Comeau has been suspended for two games. Was this correct amount of games he should have received?