The NHL has been plagued by a flat cap for the better part of 3 years now. The expected climb of approximately $8,000,000 was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it appears the league is poised to finally see some significant increases.
The expectation is for the salary cap to rise $1,000,000 next season followed by an additional 4-5 million the next two years. This will help many cap strapped teams, but will also provide a significant advantage to teams that already have their cores locked into long-term contracts.
It will be interesting to see how players choose to approach this cap increase, but look for Auston Matthews to attempt to eclipse Nathan MacKinnon's contract which is currently the highest paid deal in the league.
