Players' escrow rises because of Canadian dollar's fall

The drop in the Canadian dollar already is expected to have an impact on next season's salary cap numbers.

But it's having a more immediate impact on players' take-home pay.

The NHL will start taking 16% out of players' salaries to go toward escrow, a fund designed to make sure players get no more than their allotted share of hockey-related revenue.

The amount withheld had been 14%.

If salaries exceed the players' share, owners take the difference out of escrow. If it doesn't, players get the money back, plus interest.

The Canadian dollar sits at 81 cents against the U.S. dollar. It has dropped 13 cents since July.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said during his state of the league address on Saturday that salary cap likely would fall from the original $73 million projection, but not precipitously. It's $69 million this season.

"At 82 cents for the rest of the year, the cap would be 72.2, and at 80 cents, the cap would be 71.7," he said. "These are not in the context of a $70 million-plus cap dramatic numbers. As of Friday, I think the Canadian dollar was 81 cents. Nobody can project exactly where it's going, but the point that I'm making is you're not going to see a dramatic difference."

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