NHL salary cap set at $83.5 million for the 2023-24 season

The NHL salary cap will be set at $83.5 million for the 2023-24 season, according to to Bally Sports Midwest rinkside reporter Andy Strickland.

The cap will rise by $1 million from the $82.5 million it was set at for the 2022-23 season. The cap stagnated for three seasons during the COVID-19 era when it was stuck at $81.5 million because the league was losing revenue due to the lack of fans in NHL arenas.

It rose by $1 million for the 2022-23 season which was the first time it had risen since 2018-19. The modern NHL salary cap was established following the 2005 lockout and was initially set at $39 million. In the 19 years since then it has gone up in 15 out of 19 seasons. Three cap stagnations were caused by COVID-19 and the other one was due to the 2012-13 lockout which caused the cap to drop from $64.3 million down to $60 million.

The cap has risen by an average amount of $2.34 million year-over-year. Once the players pay off their escrow owed from the last few years the cap is expected to rise rapidly.

The NHL could have a salary cap north of $90 million in the next couple of seasons. This affects how teams negotiate long-term contracts with core players. The highest-paid player in the NHL for next year is Nathan MacKinnon at $12.6 million. Auston Matthews is one year removed from unrestricted free agency and if there are indications that the cap is going to rise above $90 million in the first few years of his contract, he could blow past MacKinnon’s AAV.

As the NHL enters the offseason, starting with the draft in less than a week and free agency shortly after, teams will fill out their rosters with diverse salary cap situations. According to CapFriendly, the Montreal Canadiens are the only team currently over the cap, at $84.7 million owed to their players for next year.

Six other teams are within $5 million of the cap and they all have numerous players to sign still. On the other side, there are currently six teams sitting under the $61.7 million cap floor. The Anaheim Ducks need to commit more than $17 million in salaries next year just to get above the salary cap floor.