NHLPA, NHL Announce Team Payroll Ranges for Next Three Seasons

[doniceage]

NEW YORK/TORONTO (Jan. 31, 2025) – The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association announced today an agreement that will provide increased predictability on core Salary Cap economics for a minimum of the next three years (through 2027-28).

The agreement sets the following annual increases to the Upper Limit, subject to the Collective Bargaining Agreement being in effect beyond the 2025-26 season:

2025-26: $7.5 million

2026-27: $8.5 million

2027-28: $9.5 million

Those increases would set Team Payroll Ranges for the next three seasons to:

2025-26
Upper Limit: $95.5 Million
Lower Limit: $70.6 Million

2026-27
Upper Limit: $104 Million
Lower Limit: $76.9 Million

2027-28
Upper Limit: $113.5 Million
Lower Limit: $83.9 Million

The projected Team Payroll Ranges for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons will be subject to potential minor adjustments (up or down).

The parties still intend to meet to discuss other elements of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that might need modification and/or improvement beyond the 2025-26 season.

[RGM81]

The cap FINALLY going up is going to mean some more big paydays for pending UFA's and potential franchise players. I wonder if the Avalanche kinda want to undo the Rantanen trade knowing now the future numbers.

Hand-in-hand with the total cap rising also means that the upper limit for an individual player salary increases along with it.

[mikecole141]

Next season may stay at that projected level, but the tariffs and trade war ol' donnie just started, if it goes on for too long, will probably hurt both economies immensely with a best case scenario being a minor recessionary, worst case a depression situation. Both economies are going to take a kick to the pills and it is not going to be nice. How many people are not going to go to games because everything is more expensive? A lot of Canadians are certainly not going to travel to the US, how many hockey trips are going to be canceled? How many people are going to avoid buying new merch, cancel some tv packages, streaming services, in order to focus on food and household goods. Add on I won't be buying any new trading card products while this is going on, and I won't be buying any new NHL merch while this is going on, and everybody else who follows suit is taking a piece out of the HRR that might add up and hurt those cap adjustments. I won't be buying any new comics or non-sports cards during this time as well.

[doniceage]

Next season may stay at that projected level, but the tariffs and trade war ol' donnie just started, if it goes on for too long, will probably hurt both economies immensely with a best case scenario being a minor recessionary, worst case a depression situation. Both economies are going to take a kick to the pills and it is not going to be nice. How many people are not going to go to games because everything is more expensive? A lot of Canadians are certainly not going to travel to the US, how many hockey trips are going to be canceled? How many people are going to avoid buying new merch, cancel some tv packages, streaming services, in order to focus on food and household goods. Add on I won't be buying any new trading card products while this is going on, and I won't be buying any new NHL merch while this is going on, and everybody else who follows suit is taking a piece out of the HRR that might add up and hurt those cap adjustments. I won't be buying any new comics or non-sports cards during this time as well.

I quit going to game and buying merchandise many years ago as thought it was too expensive. Cards started later but tthe prices of those are now crazy especially after Covid. Not sure how any collector can afford anything unless they get in group breaks or buy on the secondary market.

don