The “no state tax” issue, Kyle Okposo forced to cancel Stanley Cup appearance, the Red Wings re-sign Joe Veleno, the latest salary arbitration news, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

THE ATHLETIC: Eric Duhatshek reports little appetite around the NHL to make changes to the salary cap addressing the issue of teams with no state tax having an advantage in signing players over those with state and provincial tax.

Duhatschek indicates it would be “an incredibly complex system” involving tax laws in the 18 different states, five Canadian provinces, and the District of Columbia, where the NHL operates.

A change of that magnitude must be made through collective bargaining between the league and the NHL Players Association. The next round of CBA talks will begin in 2026.

Duhatschek noted this became an issue when the Florida Panthers became a very good team. He also cited an NHL executive accusing clubs complaining about the tax advantage of Florida teams as “a bunch of crybabies” trying to defend their mediocre team-building records.

The 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers (NHL.com).

This executive believes the Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vegas Golden Knights built their teams better and that’s why they became Stanley Cup Champions, not because of a “no tax state” advantage.

The Lightning drafted better, finding value in players like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn that other teams passed over in the draft.

Meanwhile, the Panthers struck gold in the trade market, acquiring Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Sam Bennett, Brandon Montour and Matthew Tkachuk.

As for the Golden Knights, they did a great job in the 2017 expansion draft, acquiring draft capital and young talent that made them immediately competitive.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’ve been skeptical of this recent complaint about a“no state tax” advantage. The Lightning, Panthers and Golden Knights simply did a better job building their championship rosters.

The Lightning and Panthers have been around for 30 years. They were non-contenders for most of that period, especially the Panthers. It was when they finally brought in stable ownership and management that they became champions.

However, the salary cap remains the great leveler. The Lightning endured it over the past three years while the Panthers and Golden Knights began to feel its pinch this summer.

Salary cap constraints forced the Lightning to shed salaries to maintain their core players. It cut into their roster depth, eventually knocking them from their perch as Stanley Cup contenders.

The cost of maintaining a Cup contender was felt by the Panthers this summer by the departure of Montour. Verhaeghe, Bennett and Aaron Ekblad could be next to leave given their UFA eligibility next summer.

Wheeling and dealing in the trade market built the Golden Knights into a Cup champion in 2022-23. However, they felt the bite of the salary cap this summer with the departures of Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson and William Carrier. They could soon run out of tradeable assets and cap room to make the major deals for expensive talent that built them into a champion.

The Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, and Seattle Kraken garnered no championship advantage playing in no-tax states.

The Predators peaked in 2018, winning the Presidents’ Trophy a year after reaching the Stanley Cup Final. They landed three of this summer’s biggest UFAs, signing Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei and Marchessault. Those moves could make them better but doesn’t guarantee a championship.

Meanwhile, the Stars have been in Dallas for over 30 years and have had their share of highs and lows, including a Cup in 1999. No one’s grumbled about their supposed advantage playing in a “no-tax state”. 

Meanwhile, the Kraken didn’t enjoy the same success out of the gate as the Golden Knights, mainly because rival clubs did a better job protecting assets in the expansion draft.

SPORTSNET: Travel issues affected Kyle Okposo’s day with the Stanley Cup. He had to cancel an event in Minnetonka, Minnesota due to the grounding of US flights on Friday because of the global IT outage affecting airlines. The 37-year-old forward was crushed by the news, though efforts are being made for him to have his day with the Cup.

DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: The Red Wings avoided salary arbitration with forward Joe Veleno as the two sides agreed to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2.275 million.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Veleno is among six of the 14 players who filed for arbitration to settle with their clubs before their hearings. The others were Jake Christiansen and Jet Greaves of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jack Drury of the Carolina Hurricanes, Ty Emberson of the San Jose Sharks, and JJ Moser of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: The NHLPA has decided against releasing the scheduled dates of the hearings for those who filed for arbitration. The arbitration period runs from July 20 to Aug. 4.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Most of these cases are settled before their scheduled hearings, a trend that seems to be continuing this year. The notable players still unsigned include the Hurricanes’ Martin Necas, the New York Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren, and the Buffalo Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

TORONTO STAR: The Maple Leafs recently announced they hired Mark Leach as their new director of amateur scouting.

Leach spent the past 11 seasons with the Dallas Stars. He was instrumental in their selections of Miro Heiskanen, Jason Robertson, Jake Oettinger, Thomas Harley, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Leafs could see a notable improvement at the draft table in the coming years given Leach’s impressive ability to find quality talent for the Stars.