Largely expected for the last calendar year, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported that at the Board of Governors meeting today, the league updated team owners on the revenue projections for this season, and projected next season’s salary cap to reach $87.7MM. It will be both the largest dollar value and the highest percentage raise the salary cap has seen in the last five years combined.
If the projection holds, and the salary cap indeed raises by $4.2MM for the start of next season, it will mark the highest possible percentage (5%) increase allowed under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA. If the league can sustain its current growth, it would not be unreasonable to see the league have a salary cap of more than $100MM by the end of the current decade.
As with any time the salary cap is increased by a substantial margin, it primarily benefits players in contract years and gives breathing room to a majority of the teams in the league. With players such as William Nylander, Jake Guentzel, and Brandon Montour, among others, set to hit unrestricted free agency next offseason, the first major cap increase in the last five years may put them in a position to garner record-breaking contracts.
Aside from players set to hit the free agent market this upcoming summer, players such as Leon Draisaitl, Mitch Marner, and Mikko Rantanen will be eligible for contract extensions, meaning this news bodes well for their earning power, as well. Still, although league salary standards are different for all three, the NHL has quite a ways to go in terms of revenue compared to the MLB, NFL, and NBA.
Nevertheless, it is a positive sign for the league as a whole, which saw a stagnant cap during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, and a mild $4MM increase overall in the cap since the 2018-19 season.
“If the projection holds”. I’m skeptical of it, but we shall see.
I’m curious to see how the Diamond Sports bankruptcy unwinds. Judging from what happened in Arizona with the Coyotes, Suns, Mercury, and D-Backs – they survived – losing Diamond may not be as calamitous as first thought. I think they might be too optimistic in projecting revenues from the new platforms.
Bettman is a jackass!
Bettman, at best, is a jackass!
Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Leaue revenues will not be sustainable if most the broadcasters move to streaming.
The Diamond/Bally Sports mess shouldn’t affect the other sports equally. The NHL would suffer more, due to its dependence on that revenue, even though the raw number for the league is smaller than the others. The last projection I read (not super current) was around a 20% drop, which wouldn’t cripple the league, but they’d feel it. It will be interesting to see if the Kings, Ducks, and Sharks get restored to proper terrestrial AM or FM stations, with renewed sponsorships. They’ve lost many advertisers, including some of those precious casinos. SN650 has to stop their geoblocking B.S., as they are alienating people by the thousands. And, there’s the matter of broadcasters being able to travel. Some do, many can’t. On Bettman’s watch, the NHL fan experience has regressed, not progressed. As stated above, @NativeAmerican is right—twice.