DETROIT— Let’s get the minutia out of the way, because we needn’t waste too much oxygen on cap compliance with the new NHL season finally on the horizon.

The subject is a yawn, but we had no choice but to broach it with Kent Hughes as part of a 20-minute conversation we held with the Montreal Canadiens’ general manager Tuesday, ahead of the annual NHL GM/coach meetings.

We were far more compelled to hear about Hughes’s outlook on the 2025-26 season — the things he learned about his team from last season through this summer, his take on Nick Suzuki’s leadership, his excitement for Noah Dobson’s debut, and his expectations for Patrik Laine, Ivan Demidov, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach — but the Canadiens remained nearly $6 million above the $95.5-million salary cap ceiling and Carey Price’s n

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