The NHL has apparently given its players fair warning.

Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday that the NHL informed the NHLPA this week that next season's salary cap could dip below $70 million should the players not exercise the escalator clause built into the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The escalator was designed to have the cap rise five percent every year - something that would ordinarily be in the players' best interest. But current economic factors, like the revenue downturn and weak Canadian dollar, may impact escrow in a manner that might ultimately cost the players, should they vote in favor.

That said, and regardless of whether or not the proviso was a scare tactic, the threat of the salary parameters sinking below $70 million might be motivation enough for the players to vote in the five-percent escalator - especially the ones entering free agency.

The salary cap for the 2015-16 season was $71.4 million.

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