Is the falling Canadian dollar (and salary cap) actually a benefit to Calgary?

[1989]

Just as the title says.

With the Canadian dollar reaching lows not seen in a decade and as the salary cap is tied to the salary cap, are the Flames and their salary-floor team in an excellent position to buy picks by cap-ceiling teams looking to offload heavy contracts?

Bettman recently implied that if the Canadian dollar reached ~80 cents, the cap for 2016 would be around 70m. It's now at 78 cents, implying a cap of around 68-79m and could fall even further down to the low to mid 70's.

The Flames currently have around 12m in cap space available if I recall correctly.
Would you be okay with seeing the team pick up a couple of shorter-term (4 years or less) 4m contracts (preferably defence) from other teams with a boom-bust potential prospect or a pick in the 2/3rd round coming back?

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[SmellOfVictory]

As long as they don't go nuts, they should absolutely look into taking cap dumps in order to acquire picks/prospects, or getting guys for cheap from teams who are being squeezed by the cap. Treliving already appears to be doing this with considerable frequency, between him being in on cap dump trades last year, and Richards this year.

Just nothing with too much term or too high a cap hit, because before we know it Gio, JG, and Money are going to be up for new contracts, and even at a discount none of them will be cheap.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I have a feeling they are looking at doing exactly what you are talking about with a guy like Richards.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I like that the Burke and Treliving have a plan and don't deviate from it. Like, they will state how far they will go or how much they will take on, and = they don't cave. It shows that they are not desperate and that builds a reputation around the league and will help in negotiations as a result.

 

[Calculon]

On the flipside, the more the value of oil tanks and the Canadian dollar falls, the less likely it is the Flames ownership group spend to the salary cap. In which case, the more careful Treliving would have to be in preserving space for Giordano, Monahan, Gaudreau and Backlund amongst others.