NHL, NHLPA to discuss possibility of ‘smoothing’ salary cap over next two seasons

The NHL’s salary cap has increased substantially over the last couple of seasons, leading to some monstrous contracts getting handed out this past offseason. It’s expected to continue to skyrocket in the years to come.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, however, the league is looking at the possibility of “smoothing” the salary cap’s growth over the next two seasons.

At Tuesday’s GM meetings, it was decided that the NHL and NHLPA will meet in the new year to discuss ways of making the salary cap’s increases over the next couple seasons less dramatic year over year, with the hopes of creating a more stable salary environment across the league.

The NHL’s salary cap this season is $104 million, which increased from $95.5 million last season and $88 million the season prior. It will grow to $113.5 million next season, and is currently projected to be $127.5 million in the 2028-29 season.

According to Friedman, one strategy the league could pursue is raising next season’s cap from $113.5 million by a certain amount, and then lowering the 2028-29 cap by the same amount, thereby shrinking the cap spike between the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons. For example, if next year’s cap is raised from $113.5 to $115.5 million, representing a $2 million bump, then the cap for the 2028-29 season would be decreased by $2 million, going from a projected $127.5 million to a projected $125.5 million. This would keep the difference between the 2027-28 and 2028-29 salary caps to $10 million.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL’s salary cap stayed flat at $81.5 million for three seasons, from 2019-20 through 2021-22. It then only increased by $1 million per year over the next two seasons, before jumping up to $88 million for the 2024-25 season. Since then, it has grown at its highest rate since its introduction in the 2005-06 season.