Salary cap for 25-26: a possible increase of up to $9 million

Dose
Crédit:

The salary cap is still a very important issue in the National Hockey League.

It dictates what each team can afford to do, and how each team must arrange its own financial puzzle.

Every signing and every transaction depends on the salary cap, and so, when it increases, it greatly benefits the teams, as they can spend more.

Currently, the NHL salary cap stands at $88 million.

And from what we’ve learned in the last few hours, well, that cap could increase by $7 to $9 million for the 2025-2026 season, i.e. next season.

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Indeed, according to Elliotte Friedman, this possibility will actually be discussed in the coming weeks, as the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association meet.

Business is going well in the NHL, so a larger-than-originally-anticipated increase could actually happen for the next campaign.

The only problem is that, currently, under CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) rules, the salary cap can only increase by a maximum of 5% per season.

Going from $88m to $95/97m, an increase of 8 to 10.2%, would therefore not be possible if this rule is not changed by next season.

However, such a rule-breaking increase could still take place if the NHL and the players’ association reach an agreement.

If no agreement is reached, the salary cap will only rise to $92.5 million for the 2025-2026 season, and may then increase further for the 2026-2027 season, given that the current CBA expires in September 2026.

In short, we’re likely to see a very nice increase in the salary cap over the next few years, which can only be positive for teams, who will be able to spend more, and therefore put together better line-ups.

All this remains to be seen.

Overtime

– Logical.

– He turns 21 today!

– Alex Ovechkin is the all-time leading scorer, according to Jeremy Roenick. [Responsible Gambler]

– Wow!

– Whew.

This content was created with the help of AI.