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Hi James,

I was wondering when an NHL team has to be cap compliant. I seem to remember the date being mid-September (the 15th?) but can't find the info.

Cheers,
Jason

As good a question as any with training camps approaching.

The best rule of thumb to use when it comes to the cap in the off-season is that (a) you can exceed it by up to 10 per cent and (b) you can do so right up until the end of training camps. Here's the language in the collective bargaining agreement with the key passage in bold:

(ii) Upper Limit.

(A) With the exception of the Bona-Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception set forth in Section 50.10(d) below and the Performance Bonus Cushion set forth in Section 50.5(h) below, no Club shall at any point during a League Year be permitted to have an Averaged Club Salary that exceeds the Upper Limit of the Payroll Range.

(B) Nevertheless, in order to ensure that Clubs may have sufficient time and flexibility to plan their rosters during the off-season, the Upper Limit shall be temporarily raised by ten (10) percent to permit Clubs additional flexibility with their Averaged Club Salaries during the period from July 1 until and including the last day of Training Camp. On the day following the last day of Training Camp, the Upper Limit shall again be lowered to the level as calculated in Section 50.5(b), and all Clubs must once again be in compliance with the Upper Limit from the day following the last day of Training Camp until and including June 30.

In past years, the "last day of training camp" has essentially meant the end of the preseason schedule, which will come to a close after two games on Sept. 29 this season. All teams must therefore be under the $56.8-million limit by Sept. 30, one day before the regular season opens 38 days from now in Boston, Toronto, Calgary and Denver.

According to CapGeek.com, only three teams are currently over the salary cap: The Red Wings, Senators and Sharks. Detroit will likely get under by placing injured defenceman Andreas Lilja on the long-term injury exemption list, while Ottawa can pull off the Heatley deal or dump a defender like Jason Smith to get under.

San Jose, however, is in a bit more of a pickle, as they're over even only counting 10 forwards as being on the roster. Expect the Sharks to move a defenceman at some point, as they've got four blueliners making $3.1-million or more and seven making $1.5-million or more.

They did spend all of last season with Kyle McLaren's $2.5-million stashed in the minors, so that could be the way things go come the end of next month.