NHL says salary cap could increase by $4.5 million next summer in 2023

NEW YORK — The days of the Flat Cap Era are numbered, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday upon the completion of the league’s fall Board of Governors meeting here in Times Square.

Bettman said the NHL is projecting optimism that the $1.1 billion debt paid from players to owners as a result of a pandemic revenue shortfall will be retired as soon as this season, which is at least one year faster than previously projected.

“We believe that there’s a good possibility that the escrow will be paid off this season. May not be, but it’s going to be close, we think,” Bettman said. “Which means the flat cap will be replaced by a bigger increase – if not [next] season, then the [following] one.”

If repaid in full, Bettman said the salary cap would be projected to rise “$4 or $4.5 million” next summer in 2023. If not, the salary cap would only increase $1 million to $83.5 million next season, as called for in the Memorandum of Understanding with the NHL Players’ Association.

Some two-thirds of the league’s franchises, who are pressed so tight to the $82.5 million upper limit that some can’t even afford to squeeze in a coffee run let alone another league minimum player under the cap, are crossing their fingers that revenue returns exceed projections. Upwards of 18 of the 32 teams are within $500,000 of the limit; 13 are not expected to finish with any space at all; and a few have been operating with the bare minimum roster size of 20. 

No ‘Blanket’ Policy Coming for Alleged Off-Ice Misconduct

While Bettman said he “respects” the NHLPA’s position, which called the suspension to Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ian Cole for allegations of sexual assault from an anonymous tweet “grossly unfair” and “inappropriate,” don’t expect a blanket policy coming on how the league plans to deal with future similar situations that arise.

The NHL says they will continue to handle issues on a “case-by-case” basis.

“It depends on the circumstances,” Bettman said. “The Lightning issued a suspension with pay because it might be a distraction in the short-term and clubs are free to do that. 

If another anonymous claim were to be made on social media, how would the league handle it? It’s a thorny subject moving forward, particularly as games become more important later in the season. What if a fan wants to concoct a damaging allegation to take a player out of a playoff series?

“I don’t think I can give you a blanket rule as to how we’ll deal with it, but we’re sensitive to the issue,” Bettman said. “At the end of the day, I’m always concerned with allegations that are made, but when they’re made anonymously, they’re difficult to deal with.”

Team Canada 2018 World Junior investigation ongoing

Bettman said the NHL is “closer to the end than the beginning” of the investigation surrounding members of the 2018 Team Canada gold medal-winning World Junior team, who were accused of gang rape after a team-sponsored celebration in 2019 in London, Ont. 

Hockey Canada quietly settled a suit with the victim earlier this year but never investigated the players’ involvement, leading to fallout that has included the resignation or removal of the organization’s hierarchy and Board of Directors.

The NHL launched its own independent investigation, which may result in severe punishment for the involved players who are active in the league. The London Police Service is also concurrently conducting its own criminal investigation.

“A lot of work has been done,” Bettman said. “The timing of the report, we’ll have to keep an eye on, because we’re certainly not going to do anything that will interfere with the London police’s ongoing work. I don’t know what our report is going to say, but at some point, we may have to make contact with the London Police to see if they have an issue with us moving forward.”

NHL Diversity and Inclusion Report

NHL senior executive vice president Kim Davis reported to the Board of Governors on the findings of the league’s Diversity and Inclusion report, which included a voluntary demographic survey completed by 4,200 employees across the league office and 32 clubs.

The results were not in any way surprising: More than 83 percent of employees self identified as white.

“It says that we’re where we expected to be, but now we have the facts to back it up,” Davis said.

Davis was encouraged by the fact that nearly 37 percent of the league’s workforce identified as female, which is closely aligned with the statistic that approximately 40 percent of the league’s fan base is also female.

“You know, I think … when you have a framework that people can operate in and a process by which they can begin to look at their business through, you start making progress,” Davis said. “We’re not taking a victory lap. We have a lot of work to do.”

Slap Shots

Bettman said it’s “business as usual” right now for the Ottawa Senators and the club is “operating just fine” under owners Anna and Olivia Melnyk, daughters of the late Eugene Melnyk … Bettman said the Arizona Coyotes, playing in 5,000-seat Mullett Arena at Arizona State University, are expected to exceed HRR revenue that was earned last season in Glendale … Bettman said “we’re getting close” to whatever the deadline is to pull off a World Cup of Hockey in Feb. 2024, as the league still grapples with how to handle the potential entry or exclusion of Russian-born players as a result of the Ukraine invasion in what could be hockey’s first true best-on-best tournament since Sochi in 2014.

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