The salary cap has taken a big toll on veterans.

Not only were productive wingers like Brendan Shanahan, Glen Murray and Mark Parrish out of work when the season started, veterans like Kevyn Adams (Blackhawks), Keith Carney (Blackhawks), Richard Matvichuk (Blue Jackets) and Bryan Berard (Flyers) didn’t get contracts after going to NHL camps on a tryout basis.

Berard is contemplating offers from teams in Russia. The Blues have the cap room to add Berard to the power play, but tight budgeting and the team’s commitment to youth precluded that move.

In Calgary, the Flames placed defensemen Rhett Warrener and Anders Eriksson on waivers, along with forward Jamie Lundmark to get to the cap.

Other notables on NHL waivers include former 20-goal scorer Peter Schaefer (Bruins), forward Mark Bell (Maple Leafs) and defenseman Kyle McLaren (Sharks). Over at Hockey Buzz, Andy Strickland notes that McLaren has a no-trade clause but would be willing to come to St. Louis.

Apparently McLaren, who will make $2.5 million this year, would welcome a move to St. Louis. And the Note could use Kyle’s toughness on the blue line.

Hockey Guy wants to see Steve Wagner and Roman Polak get lots of ice time for the Note this season, but the loss of Erik Johnson and the earlier departure of Bryce Salvador and Matt Walker left this team a little thin.

EXPLAINING THE CAP CRUNCH

The Boston Globe explains one reason why so many teams wrestled with cap issues this week:

In the first three years of the post-lockout NHL, bonuses (available to youngsters on first contracts and players 35 and older) could be counted toward a 7.5 percent cushion over the cap. But this season, because the NHL Players Association has the option of terminating the CBA, the cushion has been eliminated and all potential bonuses, even the ones unlikely to be achieved, must count toward the cap number.

Anaheim, facing a similar cap crunch, assigned forward Bobby Ryan, the No. 2 pick behind Sidney Crosby in 2005, to its AHL club in Iowa. Ryan had performed well in camp, but his cap number (just south of $2 million per year) was a factor.

Wheeler survived the cut, but the team had to ditch Schaefer to make that work.

AROUND THE RINKS: The Blackhawks haven’t been able to find a taker for goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, even back in Russia. So he is on the opening night roster, eating up $6.7 million on salary cap space . . . The Kings finally got Patrick O’Sullivan signed to a three-year deal worth a shade less than $9 million. This is bad news for the Blues, since LA is another team trying to move up the Western Conference pecking order. O’Sullivan is a big piece of that team’s offense . . . The Hurricanes have taken some hard injury hits before the season even started. The latest: Winger Scott Walker’s hand surgery, which will knock him out for six weeks. Earlier, fellow winger Justin Williams went down with an Achilles tendon tear. And old friend Rod Brind’Amour is on the mend from additional knee surgery . . . Forward prospect Carl Soderberg, the player the Blues moved in the ill-fated Hannu Toivonen deal, failed to stick with the Bruins in camp. He went back to Sweden to play for Malmo . . . Blues prospect Lars Eller made No. 10 on the Hockey News Hotlist this week. Wrote THN: “The skilled playmaker is up with the big club (Frolunda, Sweden) again, but his impact has been much greater already. The Danish teen has two goals and four points in his first five games.” The Blues expect Eller to be next year’s Patrik Berglund.