NHL Salary Cap Increases by $8.5M to Hit $104M
Next season’s salary cap confirmed bullish projections from the league and union.
Big money is coming to the NHL just as expected, but the league’s escalating salary cap will nonetheless prompt major changes across hockey. The league and the NHL Players Association said that the upper end of the salary cap for the 2026–27 season will be a record $104 million per team, while the minimum will be $76. 9 million and the midpoint for next season stands at $90.
4 million. That upper limit is an increase of $8. 5 million—around 9%—from the $95.
5 million salary cap for the current NHL season, beating the $7. 5 million year-over-year rise from 2024–25. Notably, next season’s minimum spending per team is greater than the maximum from as recently as 2018.
The figures for the 2026–27 campaign, meanwhile, are right in line with multiyear projections first detailed early last year. Nonetheless, they confirm the still-growing revenue outlook for the NHL and the overall health of the sport. In addition to total league revenue that will again likely exceed $7 billion in mixed currency this season, the NHL just completed a first round of the postseason that set viewership milestones in the current U.