The general managers of the National League have just finished their annual meeting in Florida. Normally, these meetings are used to discuss hot topics in the league that teams want to address, and there is very frequently information that is passed on in relation to the upcoming season. According to what we just learned from Gary Bettman, the salary cap should only go up by one million dollars for the next campaign. However, a clarification is added to the effect that the Commissioner will have a first meeting soon, with the new director of the players' association, Marty Walsh, to know his point of view and to discuss about a more significant increase. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1636013166558691333?s=20'> </a></blockquote></div> Nevertheless, unless there is a major turnaround, if the situation remains the same, this small increase could change the plans of many teams who were hoping to benefit from a bigger margin of maneuver for next year. This could also have a direct impact on the decisions of the Canadiens' GM, Kent Hughes, who will have to think hard about the money he will spend during the summer. Let's not forget that the CH will have to come to an agreement with a few upcoming free agents, such as Cole Caufield, Denis Gurianov, Jesse Ylonen, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Michael Pezzetta and Alex Belzile, among others. In addition, Hughes will also have to make a decision regarding players like Jonathan Drouin or Sean Monahan, as speculations are surfacing about a possible contract extension with the latter. Add to this the potential interest of the Tricolore's management to possibly make contract offers to other free agents when the free agent market opens. In short, an increase of only $1M in the payroll will have a significant impact on the strategies of NHL teams.