Despite rumours that the salary cap would not increase next season, news has broken that it will indeed see an increase, rising $2M, from $73M to $75M. The cap floor will be $55.4M.

NHL teams have been told that the salary cap in 2017-18 will be $75 M. — Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 18, 2017

As it stands, the Canadiens currently have committed $56M in salary for the 2017-18 season. The new salary cap leaves them with $19M to sign the remaining roster players, including RFA Alex Galchenyuk, UFA Andrei Markov, and possible Alexander Radulov if negotiations progress.

Marc Bergevin could also get creative during the Vegas expansion draft, by sending a draft pick to the Knights in exchange for a particular claim, which could yield a fair amount of cap space.