Show me the money.

The NHL’s board of governors will gather Monday and Tuesday in Boca Raton, Fla., for their annual meetings and all eyes will be on the projections for next year’s salary cap.

Under normal circumstances, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy Bill Daly and COO John Collins usually give the teams a good idea what they might have to spend next season.

The sinking Canadian dollar (which has dipped as low as 87 cents) has many teams wondering if the cap may stay flat in the $69 million range or only go up slightly because of a hit to revenues.

League executives noted the $5.2 billion television deal signed by Rogers kicks in and there’s no question that revenues are going to be higher. Some believe executives are worried for nothing.

“My thinking is there’s been some propaganda perpetuated that the cap won’t be high,” said a league executive. “My thinking that’s been done to stop teams from signing dumb contracts in free agency.”

OFF THE GLASS

The Dallas Stars aren’t pleased with where they stand after making big changes in the off-season, but there’s a belief GM Jim Nill may have to address the club’s goaltending issue. In 12 losses this season going into Saturday’s visit by Montreal, the Stars have given up four goals or more. That’s not typical of a Lindy Ruff-coached team and may not be a reflection on him. Before Saturday night, Kari Lehtonen had a 3.13 GAA and a .903 save-percentage while backup Anders Lindback was no better at 4.63 and .861. He was sent to the minors and Jussi Rynnas was recalled to play Thursday. That didn’t work either. The options in goal are limited but the Wild do have goalie Josh Harding in the minors if Dallas is interested. The Stars have been offering around winger Erik Cole and centre Vernon Fiddler. Neither is attracting a lot of attention and won’t get the club a goalie either ... The Penguins picked up forward Rob Klinkhammer from the Coyotes in a deal Friday, but GM Jim Rutherford is looking for a bigger trade than that. Pittsburgh has lost forward Patric Hornqvist for an indefinite period after he got hit by Vancouver’s Ryan Stanton. If Hornqvist is out for any length of time that’s a big blow for the Penguins and Klinkhammer is hardly the answer. Weren’t the Penguins supposed to be better than this?

AROUND THE BOARDS

The word is Carolina GM Ron Francis is poised to try to cut some cash and willing to move pretty much any blueliner. Naturally defenceman Andrej Sekera, a UFA, will go somewhere along with Tim Gleason and Brett Bellemore but Francis would also like to see if there’s any interest in John-Michael Liles’ $3.875 million cap hit ... Three coaches on the hotseat: San Jose’s Todd McLellan, Ottawa’s Paul MacLean and Edmonton’s Dallas Eakins. How did New York GM Mike Milbury put it to coach Butch Goring a long time ago on Long Island? “He’s on notice.” ... Anybody looking for the usual suspects from Florida — forwards Tomas Fleischmann and Sean Bergenheim — should give GM Dale Tallon a call ... Not kidding: Talks have actually heated up for Buffalo winger Chris Stewart and he may move. The Bruins, Flames and Senators have all shown interest ... A league executive said New York GM Glen Sather is looking for a forward but he “wants to make a lopsided deal.” Those are usually hard to find.

RUMOURS DU JOUR

Phoenix GM Don Maloney hasn’t hung up the ‘For Sale’ sign but talk is he’s willing to move assets to cut costs. The sale of 51% of the Coyotes to Andrew Barroway is expected to be approved sometime next month which has Phoenix strapped for cash. While getting the hedge fund billionaire on board was supposed to free up money for the struggling franchise, many in league circles don’t believe that will be the case and the Coyotes payroll is going to take a hit. Why? Barroway doesn’t manage more than a billion in hedge funds because he likes to lose money. The future of centre Antoine Vermette is in doubt and Maloney has been fielding calls, however, it’ll be closer to the deadline before he moves ... Nobody is sure where to start with the Oilers, especially after GM Craig MacTavish’s press briefing Friday in which he tried to defend the club’s record. He can’t — and shouldn’t — and many believe he probably was better off to stay under the radar. The Oilers have been fielding calls for forward Jordan Eberle, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be among those moved. Six teams (possibly Montreal, Ottawa, Columbus, Florida, Anaheim and Boston) have shown interest in forward David Perron ... San Jose GM Doug Wilson has been trying to make deals, but we’re not given the sense he’s willing to offer up much in return. The Sharks, who promised a reset in the summer and then did nothing but rip the ‘C’ off Joe Thornton’s sweater, have been looking to get younger. The Sharks have been offering around winger Tyler Kennedy and defenceman Matt Irwin but can’t find any takers. No idea why not ... Leafs’ GM Dave Nonis has been calling around looking for a defenceman.

Have a nice Sunday.

Twitter: @sungarrioch