Blue Jackets granted salary cap exemption to start season

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been granted an exemption to fall below the NHL salary cap floor by the Oct. 7 deadline.

The Blue Jackets were cap compliant before the death of Johnny Gaudreau. The late forward will count for $2 million against the salary cap since that amount of his $9.75 million hit was paid out in a signing bonus. 

"In the wake of the tragedy of the death of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, obviously this has been a sensitive and delicate discussion, but there's had to be a discussion with the NHL and the NHL Players' Association from a competitive standpoint in terms of what would happen with the Blue Jackets," TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston explained Tuesday. "And they have come to an agreement where basically Columbus does not have to reach the salary floor entering the season, as every team typically would be required to do just because of the timing and circumstances involved here.

"What it means for Columbus, as they do have to get there eventually - they're still looking for help at the forward position, looking at the waiver wire and trade options, but they do not have a deadline of middle of next week like a team typically would."

According to PuckPedia, the Blue Jackets are currently set to be just below the cap floor with a total salary of $64.43 million with a roster of 21 players. 

The Blue Jackets have had interest in adding a veteran forward, perhaps via the trade market as Johnston reported last month.

"Don Waddell, the Blue Jackets general manager, said he still wants to get at least one more forward in house," Johnston said at the time. "The sense is that the Blue Jackets are willing to be creative in how they do that. I don’t think it will necessarily come in the form of another UFA. They’ll look at PTOs, they’ll look at the waiver wire.

"I think they’re also being pretty active on the trade market, trying to see if maybe there’s some situations around the league, maybe some younger players that could become available from other teams as they work through their own roster issues, trying to get cap compliant by opening night. But the sense is the Blue Jackets will be patient here, and they may end up getting this forward by trade, versus the traditional route in just signing one."

The Blue Jackets will open their regular season on Oct. 10 against the Minnesota Wild.