Only 6 NHL teams will have full $82.5 million to spend on salary cap next season

The NHL’s salary cap next season is projected to rise to $82.5 million next season – but only for 18 of the league’s 32 teams.

That’s because 14 teams exceeded the salary cap this season, and when factoring in for performance bonuses, the extra spillage (or “overage”) will be applied to the 2022-23 season as a carryover.

This is a wrinkle in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows for teams to award young players on entry-level contracts and older veterans on 35-and-over deals with potential performance-based bonuses. When hit, those bonuses don’t generally apply in the moment, but at the end of the season when all of the statistics are compiled.

If a team finished the year with cap space, the performance bonus amount is subtracted off that number.

If a team finished with zero cap space, it is applied to the following season.

These amounts are critical, because any overage therefore reduces the amount that can be spent the following season.

Thanks to our friends at CapFriendly.com, who did the hard work digging into contract details and crunching the numbers, for the 2021-22 bonus overage amounts that will be applied to 2022-23:

Overage Penalties

1. Vancouver Canucks: $1,250,000
2. Montreal Canadiens: $1,132,500
3. St. Louis Blues: $1,000,000**
4. Edmonton Oilers: $896,000
5. Dallas Stars: $675,000
6. Los Angeles Kings: $637,500
7. Florida Panthers: $637,500
8. Philadelphia Flyers: $295,000
9. New York Islanders: $245,796
10. Chicago Blackhawks: $237,500
11. Toronto Maple Leafs: $212,500
12. Carolina Hurricanes: $112,500
13. Washington Capitals: $100,000
14. Colorado Avalanche: $25,000

** St. Louis Blues forward Tyler Bozak can still earn an additional $250,000 in the playoffs – $100,000 if St. Louis wins Round 1 and $150,000 if St. Louis wins Round 2 – which would be added to the above overage penalty.

Effective Salary Cap Space

With reductions from bonus overage penalties, buyouts, termination penalties, as well as retained salary transactions, many teams will be entering the summer with less than $82.5 million to spend.

In fact, only six teams will have the full $82.5 million at their disposal. It’s important to note that neither of these ‘dead cap’ or ‘overage’ penalties can be traded.

Here is the breakdown, with data from CapFriendly.com:

Boston Bruins: $82,500,000
Calgary Flames: $82,500,000
Seattle Kraken: $82,500,000
Tampa Bay Lightning: $82,500,000
Vegas Golden Knights: $82,500,000*
Winnipeg Jets: $82,500,000
Colorado Avalanche: $82,475,000
Washington Capitals: $82,400,000
Carolina Hurricanes: $82,387,500
Philadelphia Flyers: $82,305,000
Toronto Maple Leafs: $82,287,500
Chicago Blackhawks: $82,262,500
New York Islanders: $82,254,204
Columbus Blue Jackets: $82,058,333
Dallas Stars: $81,825,000
Buffalo Sabres: $81,708,333
Arizona Coyotes: $81,510,000
St. Louis Blues: $81,500,000**
Pittsburgh Penguins: $80,583,333
Montreal Canadiens: $80,534,167
Anaheim Ducks: $80,500,000
Nashville Predators: $80,500,000
New Jersey Devils: $80,250,000
Ottawa Senators: $80,312,500
San Jose Sharks: $80,083,333***
Los Angeles Kings: $79,900,000
New York Rangers: $79,072,222
Vancouver Canucks: $78,850,000
Detroit Red Wings: $78,319,444
Edmonton Oilers: $77,437,333
Florida Panthers: $75,287,500
Minnesota Wild: $69,756,412

* The Vegas Golden Knights are the only team to currently exceed next year’s salary cap in contract commitments. They’re currently committed to paying $83,067,667 based on their roster.

** St. Louis Blues forward Tyler Bozak can still earn an additional $250,000 bonus in the playoffs – $100,000 if St. Louis wins Round 1 and $150,000 if St. Louis wins Round 2 – which would be subtracted from their effective cap space if earned.

*** Evander Kane has grieved the San Jose Sharks for improper termination of his contract in January. If the Sharks are hit with a termination penalty, it will further reduce next season’s spending ability.