NHL Reveals Historic Salary Cap Projections Through 2028 Season Ahead of CBA Talks

Upcoming free agents in the NHL will be thrilled to hear the latest salary cap projections.

Chris Johnston of The Athletic reported Friday that the league and the NHLPA believe there will be "significant salary cap bumps" in comparison to the $88 million ceiling that is in place for the 2024-25 campaign.

According to Johnston, that could mean a $95.5 million ceiling for 2025-26, $104 million ceiling for 2026-27 and $113.5 million ceiling for 2027-28.

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski shared the release that noted the payroll ranges are "subject to potential minor adjustments."

Johnston also noted "the $104M upper limit in 2026-27 and $113.5M upper limit in 2027-28 are effectively pencilled in and could theoretically go up."

The current collective bargaining agreement expires in September 2026, so the salary cap is a major focal point at this time.

And there are advantages to raising it significantly for the teams as well even though the free agents will be the ones collecting bigger contracts. A higher salary cap gives clubs more financial flexibility to make different moves and will put less pressure on those teams near the limit to shed payroll.

This update comes after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman previously urged caution at the speculation there could be a salary cap above $92.5 million by next season.

"I don't know where that came from," Bettman said in November, per Julian McKenzie of The Athletic. "The numbers that were being thrown around were not accurate and any change would require an agreement between us, the league and the Players Association in terms of how it's computed. We haven't had those discussions. So somebody, I think, floated something on a slow news day."

As Josh Gold-Smith of The Score explained, the salary cap can traditionally increase by up to five percent each year under the current CBA.

A five percent increase from the current $88 million cap would be $92.4 million next season, although Gold-Smith explained the NHL and NHLPA can agree to a bigger increase.

It seems like that is what is happening with these latest developments, which could set the league up for record-setting spending in the years to come.