It's shaping up to be one heck of an intriguing NHL offseason.
In the wake of one of the most exciting and pulse-pounding NHL trade deadlines ever, the hockey hysterics seem like they very well may not end with the Stanley Cup Finals in June.
With the salary cap set to raise just a smidge - up to about $73 million from the current $69 million, per Commissioner Gary Bettman - some teams may not have the wiggle room they expected to whilst projecting themselves a more robust cap increase.
Some teams may be looking to capitalize on their predicament.
"The San Jose Sharks have made this their off-season plan. They were pretty quiet at the deadline. They've had a quiet year. They've kind of done this transition, one foot in one foot out type of year where they've gotten younger, but they haven't bottomed out. They'll probably miss the playoffs, but they haven't been terrible. Their plan of attack is they want to go after teams who are in cap trouble because they have tons of cap room in San Jose. And that's their plan," reported ESPN's Pierre LeBrun while appearing on Toronto's TSN 1050, per NicholsOnHockey.com.
LeBrun pointed to teams like the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings as franchises who may find themselves stuck between a rock and the cap ceiling and feeling quite a bit of discomfort when it comes to their financial situation this summer.
LeBrun believes the Rangers, Blackhawks and Kings, along with several other teams, will be forced to do "something interesting" to stay cap compliant in the offseason.
When they do, the Sharks will circle. They also won't be alone.
"The Calgary Flames plan on doing this this summer," said LeBrun. "They kept their eye on the future at this deadline and they didn't do anything foolish, but part of their thing is they have all of these draft picks they accumulated over the last year for this draft. And they have cap room. Which sets them apart compared to a lot of Canadian teams."
With teams like the Sharks and Flames lining up to poach whatever available talent they can, the long-term outlook for franchises like the Rangers, Blackhawks and Kings now seem quite a bit murkier, even if their immediate futures look pretty bright.