Report: NHL salary cap could increase nearly $10M by 2025-26 season
The NHL is preparing for a significant salary cap increase over the next three seasons, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and Rory Boylen.
Teams reportedly received projections of the approximate salary cap through 2025-26. These values aren't guarantees but reflect the league's estimations. The 2022-23 salary cap is $82.5 million, an increase of $1 million from last season.
| Year | Possible salary cap |
|---|---|
| 2023-24 | $83.5 million |
| 2024-25 | $87.5 million-$88 million |
| 2025-26 | Approximately $92 million |
According to this projection, the salary cap would begin to increase by more than $1 million per season beginning in 2024-25. This would be the first multimillion jump in the salary cap since 2019. Notable free agents for the 2024 offseason include Auston Matthews, Steven Stamkos, and Sebastian Aho.
By 2025, a projected salary cap of $92 million would represent a nearly $10-million raise over three seasons. The summer of 2025 is set up to be massive, with major stars including Victor Hedman, Leon Draisaitl, Mitch Marner, and Sidney Crosby up for new contracts.
This season represents the first increase to the salary cap since the 2019-20 campaign. Players were paid full salaries in the shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, resulting in an imbalance in the revenue split between the players and owners. The league introduced a flat salary cap until hockey-related revenue surpassed $3.3 billion in the preceding season as well as a series of escrow clawbacks to even things out.
The salary cap previously rose every season from 2013-14 until 2019-20.