I'd have played Bergeron and sat Hank.

The cap only applies to "on-ice" roster...you can have $10 mil sitting in the pressbox, and rotate it through the roster - So long as you have $56.8 mil on the bench, for any given game.

Naturally, no one wants to pay for assets they won't use, but technically you can have $100 mil in talent, so long as you dress and play only the cap.

Who counts against the cap?
It depends - are we talking about during the season or in the offseason? Let's cover both scenarios:

DURING THE SEASON
During the season (not the team's season, the League's season), anyone on a team's NHL roster counts against the cap. This includes players on the Active Roster, Injured Reserve, Injured Non Roster and Non Roster. It also includes players who have a "bona-fide long-term injury" or LTI as well as players sent to the minors on conditioning assignments and players placed on waivers (until such time that they are assigned). Also included are any deferred salary and bonuses earned as a result of playing in a league year under the new CBA, and any ordinary buyouts. The new CBA lists one other area, but I'll omit it for now unless it happen to take place.

In addition, 50.5(d)(i)(B)(5) states the following:
All Player Salary and Bonuses earned in a League Year by a Player who is in the second or later year of a multi-year SPC which was signed when the Player was age 35 or older (as of June 30 of the League Year in which the SPC is to be effective), but which Player is not on the Club's Active Roster, Injured Reserve, Injured Non Roster or Non Roster, and regardless of whether, or where, the Player is playing, except to the extent the Player is playing under his SPC in the minor leagues, in which case only the Player Salary and Bonuses in excess of $100,000 shall count towards the calculation of Averaged Club Salary;

So if a 35-year old player signs a 3-year contract and meets the criteria set above, his average salary would count against the team's cap for the 2nd and 3rd years of the contract regardless of where (or if) the player is playing. If that player plays in the minors, then his Averaged Club Salary less $100,000 would count.



NOTE: This does NOT mean that a player who is over the age of 35 in the current League Year counts against the Upper Limit. If a player signed a 5-year contract at the age of 32 and is now 35, he can be sent to the minors and will not count against the Upper Limit. The first requirement is that the player must be 35 or older in the League Year when the SPC first becomes effective. The current popular example: even though Darius Kasparaitis turned 35 during the 2007-08 season, he did not count against the Upper Limit after being assigned to Hartford (AHL) because he was only 29 when he signed his contract with the Rangers in 2001. Even if he had signed a 2-year deal for 2007-08 and 2008-09, he still would not count for '08-09 while in Hartford because he was 34 on June 30, 2007.



Players on a team's Active Roster, Injured Reserve, Injured Non Roster or Non Roster as of 5:00pm New York time on a particular day count toward the team's Upper Limit; in addition, if a player practices or travels with his NHL team or plays in an NHL game prior to 5:00pm and is then assigned to the minors, he will still count for that day.