A few misconceptions so far in this thread:
Does anyone know for certain if expansion fees are actually included in HRR? I know it was a sticking point during the last lockout. If they aren't, $1.4 billion in expansion fees basically means $46.7 million dollars in Eugene's pocket.
Secondly, even IF expansion fees are included in HRR and there's a corresponding increase in the cap, it will only eat up 50% of the expansion fees. i.e. Eugene will get a paycheck for $46.7 million, and will only be obligated to spend half of that, so there's still a net positive for the team.
Furthermore, new markets will increase overall league revenue, however they are extremely unlikely to increase the cap. In order for them to have a positive effect on the cap, the average revenue of those new markets would need to be higher than the league average - extremely unlikely for a new market. They will likely take 10+ years of growth and market penetration to have revenues that high. The average revenue in the league will decrease, and therefore the cap will decrease (or rather, the lower revenues of new teams will offset the growth in established markets, thereby lowering the cap growth)
Expansion means nothing but good things for the Sens. Now relocation, i.e. Florida to Quebec, or Phoenix to Seattle - a poor market to a potentially huge market - that would have a positive effect on the cap, and hurt the sens financial position.
Hopefully, Eugene uses the cash influx to pay down the debt on the sens, or even better, refinance with more favourable terms. This would have a huge year to year improvement on our bottom line, and could free up an additional $5-10 million for salary a year.
