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The NHL has reportedly informed its executives and owners during its board of governors meeting that took place on Monday that it is projecting it will raise the salary cap to $87.7 million next year, according to Ryan S. Clark of ESPN.
If that projection comes true, it would be a $4.2 million increase from the current salary cap for the NHL, which is $83.5 million, according to Clark. It would be the largest increase in the salary cap since it increased by $4.5 million for the 2019-2020 season. It has been known that the salary cap would take a jump next offseason as we get further from the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the league.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is scheduled to speak today, according to Clark. Gary Bettman previously mentioned that the 2024-2025 salary cap would be “somewhere between the $87-88 million” mark.
In 2020, the NHL and NHL Players' Association signed a collective bargaining agreement which agreed on a flat salary cap of $81.5 million until hockey-related revenue surpassed $3.3 billion for the previous season. Since, the salary cap has increased annually by $1 million in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Players had owed a little more than $1 billion in debt to the owners due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is what resulted in the flat cap. Once the debt was paid off, the cap would move back up.
Bettman said during the last board of governors meeting that the remaining debt was around $50 million, according to Clark.
If the projection comes true, NHL teams will have a bit more room to operate under the salary cap for next year.
