Major statement from Gary Bettman: this could completely change the plans of Kent Hughes and his fellow NHL GMs
NHL GMs got some great news, as it looks like the league could see a significant salary cap increase sooner than expected.
Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday after a meeting of the NHL Board of Governors that player trust fund collections will "likely" be paid out at the end of this campaign. If so, the salary cap will increase by about $4 million this summer, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. Wow, four million would be major for general managers.
It could change plans for many teams.
The last pre-season report projected a $1 million increase for next season to a cap of $83.5 million, which Bettman said would still happen if trust collections are not fully repaid by players.
The report also projected a cap of about $88 million in 2024-2025 and $92 million in 2025-26. It is unclear how the potential increase in 2023-24 would affect future seasons.
The NHL salary cap has been stuck at $81.5 million for the past three seasons due to the loss of revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic. It has increased to $82.5 million for 2022-2023.
Prior to the pandemic, the salary cap increased each season from 2013-14 through 2019-20.
This would be great news for Kent Hughes, who would have an extra $4M to bring an impact player into his ranks this summer. With the likely departures of Sean Manahan, Jonathan Drouin, Evgeni Dadonov and Paul Byron, which will free up close to $20.275M, Hughes could have close to $25M to maneuver this summer.
It should be noted, however, that a good portion of that amount will go into the pockets of Cole Caufield, who is currently in the final year of his NHL entry-level contract. He could earn a salary equal to or greater than that of captain Nick Suzuki. The $4M increase could still pay for almost half of his next contract annually!
Do you think that Kent Hughes will put an end to his rebuild, as soon as next summer? Do you think he will try to sign a big name?
| POLL | ||
Do you think Kent Hughes will end his rebuild next summer? | ||
| Yes | 39 | 46.4 % |
| No | 45 | 53.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
