There's been fear among NHL GMs that, when/if the new collective bargaining agreement is agreed upon in 2012, the salary cap will drop. But by Lyle Richardson of Spector's Hockey heard a rumor that the NHL might try to lower the cap for $48 million.

The cap for next season is $59.4 million and several teams are pushing that number. So if this rumor is true, GMs might be scared of getting locked into a bad situation in two years, so they could reduce the number of long-term deals they're handing out.

We've already heard a few teams, including the Colorado Avalanche, refusing to hand out deals longer than two years, so perhaps more teams will follow.