The National Hockey League’s (NHL) salary cap will reach a record high $104M per team starting from the 2026-27 season. This is an increase of $8.5 million (8.9%) from the previous season and may even increase to $113.5 million the following season.
The salary cap floor, which is the minimum total amount of money a professional sports team is required to spend on player salaries during a season, is $76.9M, making the minimum higher than what the ceiling was 8 years ago in 2018. The individual player maximum will therefore increase to $20.8M during the 2026-27 season.
Seven teams reportedly surpassed the cap during the 2025-26 season, and the Vegas Golden Knights spent the most at $107.49M. Teams are permitted to exceed the cap using the salaries of players who are out injured for a long period of time.
Deals with ESPN and TNT Sports will help see NHL surpass $7B in mixed currency this season. The league just had its most viewed first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, voiced: “It’s a really good time, and we don’t even have the biggest markets (involved in the playoffs). “This is about how good the hockey is.”
Bettman also highlighted the spread of hockey internationally due to events such as the Olympics and even credited Heated Rivalry, a Canadian TV drama centring on romance between two rival professional ice hockey players, which is a global streaming hit. Even though Bettman cited the high-level competition being demonstrated currently as the leading factor driving growth, he also recognises that “it’s never one thing” which enables such development.