NHL salary cap set

After months of negotiations, the NHL has officially set the salary cap limits for the 2014-15 season, just hours before all 30 teams take their places inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for the 2014 NHL Draft.

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The upper cap limit has been set at $69 million, while the floor will be set at $51 million.

Though the cap ceiling was originally expected to be in the lower range of $70 million, the NHL and NHLPA couldn’t come to an agreement on number that high. Ultimately, the two groups met in the middle of their demands with the final $69 million number.

This cap limit being lower than expected will force teams at the top like the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers to try and shed salary somewhere. The latter two teams are currently over the cap limit, according to the numbers from CapGeek.com.

Teams like the Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames will have work to do in order to hit the high cap floor of $51 million. Buffalo currently sits with just $34.4 million in payroll for the upcoming season, meaning that general manager Tim Murray will have to find a way to add $17 million in space, which will include the signings of upcoming restricted free agents Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno.

The Flames will have a bit of an easier time hitting the floor as they only have to add $12 million.