Is anyone surprised. . .

That Larry Brooks was wrong? Last week you'll remember that Ol' Larry published an article stating that the NHL Salary Cap was going up to around $52m, as opposed to what most people with common sense expected around $48-$49 million. Well, Fox Sports published an article that claims the cap will only approach $48.5 million. With the cap being $3.5 million lower, that's a whole bunch of teams that won't be able to do much in the free agent market. That also of course means that the Capitals only have to spend to about $32.5 million to reach the salary floor, and that their self imposed budget will be around $40.5 million. Beginning next week, I'll start looking at the way the cap affects the other teams I plan on looking at this summer, and breaking down a few draft previews.