NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bettman says $1 mil cap increase considered due to league profits; Habs Dvorak out for rest of season; plus much more

NHL top prospect Connor Bedard is top candidate for number one draft pick as the San Jose Sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets could be the winner of the Bedard draft sweepstakes by season’s end. (photo from nhl.com)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says that the salary cap could increase by one million it may not sound like much but it could make a huge difference for club trying to make a trade, draft a player or just make it budget for that free agent. Bettman says revenues have exceeded expectations and an uptick just might be in the works.

#2 Gary Bettman said he’s not ready to reveal who will be the next owner of the Ottawa Senators. Bettman said there are multiple buyers vying for ownership of the Senators but Bettman did say there are bidders of magnitude of interest. Bettman said the sale is not tied to any future downtown arena as the Senators have played in the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata Ottawa since 1996.

#3 Montreal Canadiens Christian Dvorak will miss the rest of the 2022-23 season. Dvorak had knee surgery Wednesday. When it rains it pours Dvorak has not played since Mar 7th when the Canadiens lost to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 suffered a lower body injury.

#4 While you don’t see too much NHL coverage on ESPN during daily programming and a lot of the talk shows and sports reports don’t discuss game recaps but one thing ESPN, ABC and TNT are acknowledging that viewership of NHL hockey is is averaging 1.1 million a 19 percent bump up. The networks are in their second year of their seven year deal with the NHL. That’s pretty good considering the league gets very little mention on ESPN’s daily schedule programming.

#5 Len, the race to the bottom might prove to be fruitful for either the San Jose Sharks 51 points and the Columbus Blue Jackets 49 points in their bid for NHL number one draft pick Conner Bedard. The Sharks just lost in overtime in San Jose to the visiting Blue Jackets on Tuesday night 6-5.

Join Len for the NHL podcasts Thursday nights at http://www.sportsradioservice.com