NHL to announce salary cap increase: good news for Kent Hughes and the CH

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Jeff Drouin
March 25, 2022 (11:26)

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After being frozen at $81.5M for the past few years due to the COVID-19, the salary cap is expected to increase next season. According to TSN's Chris Johnston, the NHL will announce that the cap will increase to $82.5M for the 2022-2023 season.

This means that Kent Hughes and the other GMs around the league will have a little extra help to complete their roster for next season. This help will certainly not be refused when the situation of the Habs for next year is quite catastrophic.

As of today, according to CapFriendly, the CH already has $79.8 million committed for next season. The problem is that this amount only pays for 15 players.

Kent Hughes will surely seek advice from his payroll specialist, John Sedwick, as seven players on the club become free agents with compensation. Among them are this year's surprises Rem Pitlick, Alexander Romanov and Samuel Montembeault.

Another addition to the payroll could also occur. As we mentioned in a previous article, performance bonuses for Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Alexander Romanov could be added to the package. That's $1.475 million that could be added to the pool for next year. If nothing changes, the CH would only have $1,225M to complete its roster and go on the free agent market.

$82.5M - $79.8M - $1,475M = $1,225M

You'll tell me that the CH can always put Weber's salary on the long-term injured list, but that's not ideal according to Sedwick. As he mentioned to Simon-Olivier Lorange of La Presse, it's not "optimal." The best thing would be to trade the captain's contract, but the new assistant GM mentions that it is not necessary. He has seen others and is able to handle the problem.

Still, the CH would certainly breathe easier if Weber's contract was elsewhere and if the team could trade a few big contracts. If not, don't expect a big hit on the free agent market this summer.