Montreal Canadiens management appears to be spending less money because it's the easiest way to keep profits healthy.

Here is a scary thought for Habs fans. What if the new reality is that the Montreal Canadiens have become a bargain-basement National Hockey League team?

One of the most contentious discussions surrounding the Habs last season was the fact that management left US$8 million sitting on the table rather than spending that cash to try to make the team better. The team had that amount of money available below the salary cap of US$75 million yet general manager Marc Bergevin didn’t spend it.

It was an extremely sensitive point for team owner and president Geoff Molson, who told the media after the sad-sack season that the Habs would spend whatever it takes to make the team better.

“For me, to talk to my fans, they’ve got my commitment that I’m going to spend every dollar possible to win,” said Molson. “That’s the way we operate in this business. … No stone is left unturned. No dollar is left unspent that’s going to make us a better hockey team.”

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That was in April. In late July, according to capfriendly.com Montreal has US$7.8 million available under the new salary cap for next season, which is US$79.5 million. In other words, it sure looks like the financial situation is very similar to last season. The summer is not over, but every indication is that Bergevin isn’t about to make any pricey blockbuster acquisitions, so in all likelihood when this team hits the ice in early October, they will once again probably have close to US$8 million sitting in the bank.

So what happened to spending every dollar possible to win? What I’m starting to think is, for the moment at least, Habs management isn’t interested in spending every dollar possible to win because perhaps the best way to keep the profits rolling is to spend less.

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Go back to the Forbes evaluation of NHL teams from last December. Montreal came in third on the list behind the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs with a team valuation of US$1.25 billion (up 12 per cent from a year earlier), revenue of US$236 million and profit of US$92 million. That’s the second-best profit margin in the league. Only the Rangers had a better profit margin, making US$94 million on revenue of US$246 million.

Photo by John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

How is it that one of the richest teams isn’t spending as much as possible to contend? The frightening thought is that maybe they’re leaving that money on the table because it’s the safest way to keep the profits strong.

The common wisdom is that the Canadiens make a profit of about US$2 million per home playoff game. Let’s be honest here, even if this middling squad made the playoffs next season, they can’t dream of more than one series so that’s maybe two or three playoff games at the Bell Centre. That equals a profit of about $6 million. But that’s not guaranteed. Say you spend that extra $8 million you have below the cap and then you still don’t make the post-season. Then you just lost $8 million.

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But if you don’t spend it, you’re guaranteed to have it. The team is a private business owned by Molson and a consortium of companies and Molson’s main job is to keep those profits healthy. And, clearly, you don’t need to have a great team to make big money, as the Forbes numbers prove.

Here’s what Molson told me in our interview two weeks ago about the team’s finances.

“The primary thing is that the salary cap keeps growing and as a business, if you compare it to inflation, as the salary cap goes, you have to bring up your revenues to maintain your business,” said Molson. “We decided not to take a price increase this year and we did it purposely and we agreed it was the right thing to do for our fan base. So with that comes less revenue … while the salary cap increases.

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“At a very high level, it’s a relatively simple business. It’s ticket sales, suite sales, sponsorship sales, television and retail. For me, the only thing that matters is winning. When you win, you get excited fans and they want to be there and they want to be part of it. So that’s what I focus on.”

I know Molson is being honest when he says he wants the Habs to win. It’s good for business and it’s good for everyone in Montreal. But look at his description of the business model. It works for the Canadiens even if they finish 28th overall, which was the case this past season.

If they really wanted to win more than anything else, why wouldn’t they spend every dollar possible to make that happen?