Monday at the Garden may only have been a day in the life, but if so, it was a day in Taylor Hall’s life from seven years ago when the winger was the most valuable player on the planet, winning the 2018 Hart in carrying the Devils to the playoffs.
Monday at the Garden, Hall was all that for the Blackhawks against the Rangers, and if he is even close to that over the next couple of months — No. 71 has scored in just two of his past 21 contests — he will be up at the top of available lend-lease properties coming up to the deadline.
If the salary cap increases significantly in excess of next season’s projected $92.5 million because of enhanced revenue, escrow would almost certainly rise beyond its 6 percent cap, for the one accurate observation made by Gary Bettman when the commissioner was stumping for the hard cap two decades ago was that the ceiling would become a magnet.
Hence, this would have to be part of the negotiation between the NHL and NHLPA when CBA talks begin in February. As always, the debate will be between the portion of the rank-and-file who are under contractual control for the foreseeable future, where escrow is the most important issue, and those who will go onto the market and would be helped by more money flowing into the system.
