Important dates, salary cap, 2017-18 odds, preseason

Important off-season dates:

With the Stanley Cup Final complete, here is another look at the upcoming NHL schedule, which will be a busy two weeks ahead. pic.twitter.com/0H0LbxGZIq

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) June 12, 2017

Keep in mind there that there will also be a trade freeze for all teams other than Vegas beginning the afternoon of Saturday, June 17, and continuing through the morning of Thursday, June 22. While there could be some movement this week, I’m under the impression that the more heavy movement around the league is expected to take place beginning on June 22-23. For more particular dates, the Buffalo News has a pretty good list. Expansion draft lists will be made public at 7:00 a.m. PT this Sunday. Also, the NHL schedule is expected to be released June 20.

Salary cap update: First, there’s interesting NHLPA discussion from both Larry Brooks and Elliotte Friedman. Though Brooks reported it’s expected “that the union will decline to trigger the escalator for next season,” Bob McKenzie noted some nuance being weighed internally by the NHLPA.

NHLPA internal debate is whether to apply full 5% inflator or some lesser number than 5 but greater than zero. Virtually no chance it's 0.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 11, 2017

There was enough of a possibility of this two years ago that the Kings had one of several off-season models tailored toward a 2.5% escalation of the salary cap. There appears to be some leeway in Article 50.5 of the CBA (bolded by LAKI):

all references to the “Midpoint” thereafter shall mean the “Adjusted Midpoint”), which shall be adjusted upward by a factor of five (5) percent in each League Year (yielding the \ Adjusted Midpoint, which shall then become the Midpoint of the Payroll Range) unless or until either party to this Agreement proposes a different growth factor based on actual revenue experience and/or projections, in which case the parties shall discuss and agree upon a new factor.

Odds and ends: The Kings were assigned 9-to-1 odds shortly after their 2014 triumph, for what it’s worth. Then we introduced the Everything’s OK Alarm and The Royal Half created the #IsItMidAprilYet hashtag. And Then What Happened?

Pittsburgh Penguins: 9/1
Chicago Blackhawks: 12/1
Edmonton Oilers: 12/1
Tampa Bay Lightning: 12/1
Washington Capitals: 12/1
Anaheim Ducks: 14/1
Nashville Predators: 14/1
Dallas Stars: 16/1
Minnesota Wild: 16/1
Montreal Canadiens: 16/1
New York Rangers: 16/1
Toronto Maple Leafs: 16/1
Los Angeles Kings: 18/1
Columbus Blue Jackets: 20/1
San Jose Sharks: 22/1
St. Louis Blues: 28/1
Boston Bruins: 33/1
Calgary Flames: 33/1
Ottawa Senators: 33/1
Florida Panthers: 40/1
New York Islander: 40/1
Philadelphia Flyers: 40/1
Winnipeg Jets: 40/1
Arizona Coyotes: 66/1
Buffalo Sabres: 66/1
Carolina Hurricanes: 66/1
Detroit Red Wings: 66/1
Colorado Avalanche: 75/1
New Jersey Devils: 75/1
Vancouver Canucks: 75/1
Vegas Golden Knights: 150/1

Notes on dates and schedules: Development camp will be pushed up by a week this year. Expect camp happenings to take place from June 26-30 at TSC. Busy days ahead! Also, the preseason schedule is expected to be released on either Wednesday or Thursday. Three dates have already been confirmed: Thursday September 21 (vs Vancouver in Shanghai), Saturday, September 23 (vs Vancouver in Beijing), and Tuesday, September 26 at Vegas. From what I’ve heard and seen, there will also be split-squad games while the team is overseas; expect those who don’t travel to China to play at Anaheim during the week the team is away. Games at Staples Center will take place against Anaheim and Arizona, and there may also be one game against Vancouver on Saturday, September 16 before the teams leave for China. I don’t believe Los Angeles is traveling to Colorado this preseason.