On Friday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman shared a salary cap projection during a board of governors meeting held in Manalapan, Florida. The league and its governors were congregating at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa.
Depending on what the NHLPA negotiates the inflator to be, the projected salary cap for the 2018-19 season will increase somewhere between the $78 million and $82 million mark.
The salary cap for the 2017-18 season is $75 million.
NHL shared next season salary cap projection with Governors today: between $78 M and $82 M depending on negotiated inflator with NHLPA in June… so either way, up from current $75 M
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 8, 2017
Bill Daly confirmed that based on $78-$82 M range, cap would be $78 M if NHLPA wants zero inflator, $80 M at 2.5 percent inflator and $82 M at full five percent inflator. Again, that's based on current revenue projections which aren't written in stone
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 8, 2017
“The league has never been healthier,” Bettman said according to Sportsnet. “The game has never been healthier. Our franchises have never been healthier. Our fan base has never been better.
“My preference is to keep the cap as low as possible because then the escrow is low,” Bettman continued. “We’re projecting from our standpoint that the final escrow, when it’s settled out and we disperse it, will be a single-digit escrow from player salaries for last season.”
According to Sportsnet, the at minimum $3 million increase in the salary cap would be the biggest jump since the 2014-15 season.
The projected salary cap increase of at least $3 million would mark the biggest jump since it went from $64.3 million in 2013-14 to $69 million in 2014-15. If the cap rises to $82 million, it will be the largest increase in league history, topping the $6.4-million bump from 2007-08 to 2008-09.
The NHL brought in a salary cap after the 2004-05 lockout, which stood at $39 million in its first season.
The cap increased from $73 million in 2015-16 to the $75 million it stands at this season.
This is welcome news for the Capitals who are at the top of the cap currently. John Carlson, one of the team’s top defenders, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the Capitals and Carlson’s representation are expected to talk sometime this month.
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