The future of the NHL’s salary cap has been a well-covered topic this season. First projections for the 2025-26 season had the cap rising to $92.5 million, mirroring the $4.5 million jump the league implemented coming into the current season.
However, due to strong league-wide revenues, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported rumblings in late November that the increase for the next season could be even more considerable, potentially nearing the $95-97 million mark. In the most recent episode of Agent Provocateur on sdpn, Allan Walsh, an NHL agent, seemingly confirmed Friedman’s report.
“Do you want some breaking news?” Walsh rhetorically asked co-host Adam Wylde. “You heard it from me. I’m telling you right now – you can write it down. I am not divulging any confidences or inside information per se, but I am telling you right now the upper limit of the salary cap next year will be $97 million. Write it down, put it in the bank. That’s the number – $97 million.”
Walsh has a vested interest in staying current with the league’s cap structure. He is employed by 28 current NHL players, including Jonathan Huberdeau, Marc-Andre Fleury, Max Pacioretty, Jonathan Drouin, JJ Peterka, and Nathan Walker. Twenty-two of his clients are scheduled for free agency within the next two offseasons.
Additionally, Walsh says he expects the cap to continue rising over the next three seasons, reaching $105 million by the 2027-28 campaign. In conjunction with that idea, he believes the NHL and NHLPA will agree to a “smoothing” process, spreading the increase over multiple years rather than just implementing one large jump.
All this new talk about the cap comes after the NHL announced that they will not collect escrow from players for the remainder of this season. Escrow is a preemptive tax on player salaries imposed to ensure an even 50-50 split in revenue between the players and owners.
The tax removal means that the league’s hockey-related revenue projections undershot what they now expect to garner. Hence, the drastic salary cap increase, as without it, the players would not be able to earn enough to meet the 50-50 split.
A significant bump in cap space heading into the offseason would be perfect for a team like the Washington Capitals. Washington currently has 13 players on their roster who will be free agents (11 UFA, 2 RFA), and many of them are integral members of the team. The increase would allow them to extend names like Logan Thompson and Jakob Chychrun while also providing them flexibility to further add to a roster that could contend for a Stanley Cup sooner than once thought.
According to Friedman, the salary cap for the 2025-26 season is expected to be announced officially before this season’s trade deadline on March 7.
