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Will the battered loonie affect Canadian teams’ budgets?

Canadian Dollar Advances To Highest Level Since March 2008

Canadian Dollar Advances To Highest Level Since March 2008

Bloomberg via Getty Images

With the Canadian dollar languishing around $0.77 US and showing no signs of reversing its precipitous decline...

Dollar

...the Province newspaper in Vancouver spoke to Glen Hogdson, the chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada, to learn how it could affect Canadian NHL teams.

“The rich teams, they probably will not see the same growth in franchise value,” Hodgson told the paper. “When we’re at par, the Canucks could spend the same as the Kings. Now they have to stop and pause. The so-called ‘level playing field’ has now been tilted.”

While Hodgson believes Canadian teams will ultimately “get through it,” it will be interesting to see if any purse strings get tightened. The Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators already have internal budgets that make spending to the cap unlikely. (For the record, the Jets have said the situation is “not as bad as people might think.”)

Quebec City’s odds of landing an expansion team may also be hurt. The Nordiques moved to Colorado in 1995, in large part as a consequence of a weak Canadian dollar.

Quebecor confirmed today that is has applied for a team:

Related: Why NHL fans should care about the plunging Canadian dollar