NHL salary cap by year 2024-25 is estimated to be $87.5 million. The salary cap for the 2023-24 NHL season is fixed at $83.5 million.
Salary cap (SC) is an agreement that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on its players. It can not be exceeded by any team in the league.
NHL follows a hard cap system and penalizes the teams who spend above the upper limit. In such cases, the league can fine millions of dollars, cancel contracts, and snatch the draft picks.
The rules restrict wealthy teams from spending excessive amounts on player contracts. It also prevents one particular team from purchasing all the high-rated players.
In a way, the salary cap helps to maintain the financial integrity of the league. Besides the base salary, it also controls how much a team can spend on signing bonuses and other incentives.
The amount of the SC is adjusted on a yearly basis in professional sports. The league announces the amount a few months before the sports season begins.
The teams can carry their unused salary cap space for the next season. Taking those into consideration, the teams can sign new players, re-sign existing players, and make trades with other teams.
NHL Salary Cap 2023-24 By Team
The salary cap of the NHL has increased by $1 million for 2023-24. The maximum budget for each team to spend on players is $83.5 million.
Anaheim Ducks have the highest cap space of over $16.6 million. On the contrary, the Maple Leafs have exceeded the limit by $13.2 million.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were halted and the revenues flatlined. However, the players received their income giving them more than 50% share of revenue allotted under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
As a result, the players owed a debt to the league. Rather than collecting all the money at once, the league spread the debt to be paid over a period of several years.
The escrow debt of $1.5 billion was projected to be cleared during the 2024-25 season or later. However, the unexpected growth in the revenue has brought the date closer.
The SC was $81.5 million for three seasons starting with 2019-20. It was expanded by $1 million for the 2022-23 season, making it a total of $82.5 million.
The revenues of the NHL are approaching an all-time high of $6 billion as per Commissioner Gary Bettman. They are in a great position regarding income from sponsorship and TV deals.
Current NHL Teams Over Salary Cap include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks, and Colorado Avalanche.
Other franchises that have exceeded the limit for the 2023-24 season are as follows:
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Calgary Flames
Dallas Stars
Edmonton Oilers
New York Islanders
Washington Capitals
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Vegas Golden Knights
Toronto Maple Leafs - 13,256,449
Toronto Maple Leafs cap hit total is $100,318,949 for 2023-24. The team has crossed the salary cap limit by over $13 million.
Athletes like Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitchell Marner are on the team. The lowest amount of $766,666 is paid to a rookie athlete Joseph Woll.
Auston Matthews cap hit is $11,640,250 which makes him the highest-paid athlete on the team. He is followed by John Tavares with an $11 million cap hit.
Tampa Bay Lightning - 6,948,333
Current NHL salary cap for the Tampa Bay Lightning has exceeded by roughly $7 million. The maximum salary cap hit that the team offers is $9.5 million.
Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Andrei Vasilevskiy are the most-paid players. Alex Barre-Boulet has the lowest cap hit of $758,333.
The Lightning has a cap total of $90,448,333 for the upcoming hockey season. The injured reserved cap is separated for Brent Seabrook who suffered a shoulder injury.
NHL teams over salary cap include Vancouver Canucks. They have spent over $5.8 million more on players than they were supposed to.
J.T. Miller is the highest-paid athlete on the team with a cap hit of $8 million. Similarly, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes have a cap hit of over $7 million.
Canucks bought out the contract of Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the forthcoming season. As a result, they have a dead cap of $2,126,667.
Edmonton Oilers - 390,792
Edmonton Oilers salary cap total sums up to $83,290,792. The team has a dead cap of $1,916,667 as buyout money for James Neal.
The Oilers has signing bonus and performance bonuses worth $15,417,500 and $3,875,000. Moreover, they have a negative cap space of around $390,000.
Connor McDavid receives the highest cap hit of $12.5 million from the team. The second most-earning player is Darnell Nurse with $9.25 million.
Colorado Avalanche - 4,975,000
Colorado Avalanche has exceeded the cap limit by roughly $5 million for the 2023-24 season. The total cap allocation of the team is $91,837,500.
It includes a base salary of $88,530,000 and signing bonuses worth $15,725,000. The team does not yet have a dead cap for the season.
Nathan MacKinnon is the top-earning player of the franchise. Likewise, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen have a cap hit of over $9 million.
NHL Salary Cap 2024-25
The salary cap for the 2024-25 NHL season is projected to be $87.5 million. The amount is assumed to be increased by $4 million.
There are chances that the limitation reaches $90 million since the league is prepared to completely pay off the escrow debt before 2024-25.
NHL revenue has been on an uptrend in the past few years. The debt is soon to be cleared and the salary cap is set to increase on a yearly basis.
The increment in the SC allows the teams to lure top players and prospects into their teams. Overall, performance growth can be witnessed in the teams.
The actual amount declared for the 2024-25 salary cap will be announced after the playing season of 2023-24. Prior to that, the league has to audit its revenues and expenses.
Salary Cap Since 2000
Gary Bettman says the NHL is approaching $6-billion in hockey-related revenue this season.
Salary Cap was first instituted in the NHL from the 2005-06 season. Prior to that, the teams were able to spend whatever they wanted.
The NHL owner tried to include the SC in the league since 1994. However, it resulted in lockouts of the 1994-95 and 2005-06 seasons.
The agreement was later made between the NHL and NHLPA (National Hockey League Player's Association). The terms and conditions of the salary cap have been refined over the years in CBA.
Season
Salary Cap Limit
2005-06
$39,000,000
2006-07
$44,000,000
2007-08
$50,300,000
2008-09
$56,700,000
2009-10
$56,800,000
2010-11
$59,400,000
2011-12
$64,300,000
2012-13
$60,000,000
2013-14
$64,300,000
2014-15
$69,000,000
2015-16
$71,400,000
2016-17
$73,000,000
2017-18
$75,000,000
2018-19
$79,500,000
2019-20
$81,500,000
2020-21
$81,500,000
2021-22
$81,500,000
2022-23
$82,500,000
2023-24
$83,500,000
At the inception, the salary cap was set to $39 million. It was increased by $5 million in 2006-07 and $6,300,000 in the 2007-08 season.
The salary cap witnessed an increment of $100,000 for the 2009-10 season. A negative change was seen in the amount during the 2012-13 season.
The amount dropped down by $4,300,000 from 2011-12. Moreover, the budget remained constant for three consecutive seasons before 2022-23.
NHL Retirement Cap Hit
There is no availability of cap hit associated with the retirement in NHL. Previously, a back-diving contract was in place which has now been deemed illegal.
In the back diving contract, the salary of the player decreased over time. However, it has been banned from the league since 2013.
The team has to pay the signing bonus of the player even if they retire. When a team buys out the contract of a player, they need to pay the amount spread over twice the length of the contract.
Meanwhile, if the player retires, they are not eligible for the cap hit. They will only receive the amount if they have signed a contract with the club at 35 years or older.
The rules are the same for retained salary as well. If the player has been traded from one team to another with salary retention, the cap hit would be removed if they were 35 or younger while signing the contract.
