Increasingly, it’s becoming clear that the fallout from the coronavirus shutdown will have a long, lasting impact on the NHL.



More and more, the talk is of the revenue shortfall reaching as high as 30 percent this season and a salary cap that stays almost flat for the next two or three years to compensate for that.



Assuming there aren’t games played between now and whenever 2020-21 begins, the damage could be upwards of $1-billion — nearly half of which has already been paid out to players. In that environment, raising the cap doesn’t make much sense.



The ramifications of a $81.5 million salary cap being in place for multiple years are significant, especially for contending teams that have committed a lot to salaries well into the future. The Maple Leafs obviously fit into that group, with $55 million already allocated in 2022-23, three seasons from now.



In the near term, the cap not rising will make GM Kyle Dubas’ job...