NHL salary cap estimates released for next three seasons; expected to surpass $100 million in 2026-27
The NHL and NHLPA have released their salary cap estimates for the next three seasons, with the cap jumping to $95.5 million in 2025-26, $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million in 2027-28.
The salary cap for the 2024-25 season is $88 million, meaning next season’s estimate would be a $7.5 million increase.
Daily Faceoff hockey insider Frank Seravalli reported the news isn’t just a projection of what the cap could increase to, but an agreement between both the NHL and NHLPA.
Interesting part of today's #NHL / #NHLPA memo to teams is that this isn't merely a projection of cap increases, but an agreement between the two parties.
2025-26
Upper Limit: $95.5m
Lower Limit: $70.6m
2026-27
Upper: $104m
Lower: $76.9m
2027-28
Upper: $113.5m
Lower: $83.9m
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 31, 2025
The cap floor will also increase to $70.6 million next season, an increase of $5.6 million from this season’s lower limit of $65 million. The lower limit will be $76.9 million in 2026-27 and $83.9 million in 2027-28.
This season’s $88 million salary cap was a $4.5-million increase of the 2023-24 salary cap, which was $83.5 million. This was the largest increase in the salary cap since between 2017-18 and 2018-19, when the league went from $75 million to $79.5 million, an increase of $4.5 million.
The salary cap has been stagnant for the previous five seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic pausing games and limiting attendance upon return.
Between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 campaigns, the cap never increased beyond $81.5 million, and only rose by $1 million the last few seasons.
This season, Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward Auston Matthews has the highest annual average value (AAV) with a cap hit of $13,250,000. Next season, Edmonton Oilers’ forward Leon Draisaitl will surpass him, as his new contract will kick in, paying him an AAV of $14 million.
Some notable pending unrestricted free agents (UFA) heading into the offseason include Maple Leafs’ forward Mitch Marner, Carolina Hurricanes’ forward Mikko Rantanen, Florida Panthers’ defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Washington Capitals’ defenseman Jakob Chuchrun.