On Saturday, the National Hockey League and NHL Players ‘ Association announced the salary cap for the 2024- 25 season would be$ 88 million, up from$ 83.5 million, with a minimum payroll of$ 65 million. It marks the biggest cap increase since the 2018- 19 season, and the first bump of more than$ 1 million since the 2019- 20 campaign.
The NHL’s pay cap has hardly budged the past four years, as people owed a “debt” to make up for profit shortfalls triggered by the COVID- 19 crisis, when games were canceled and arenas operated at minimal capacities. The shortfall was estimated at$ 1.5 billion.
The NHL CBA requires owners and players to evenly divide hockey related revenue ( HRR ), and the cap is determined by league revenue. There was rumors that the cover may not resume standard increases until 2026.

” Revenues grew much faster than anything anticipated, and so the mortgage debt was paid off much faster than anything anticipated”, Allan Walsh, inc- head of Octagon Hockey, said in a telephone interview.
HRR will surpass$ 6 billion this year thanks to record attendance and double-digit increases in funding profits. Walsh expects that rise to remain, pushing the cover to$ 92 million for the 2025- 26 time, and therefore$ 97 million and$ 101 million, which will generate significant growth in player salaries.
NHL director Gary Bettman stated to the internet on Saturday,” I predict that it will proceed to go up.” With the number of years we had level or reasonable increases, it was evidently necessary to recapture how much was overpaid and how much escrow built up during COVID, but I think we’re going to continue to see strong growth in the cap.
The NHL cap has increased, but other sports ‘ have experienced a steep decline in salary. The NHL salary cap was higher than the NBA during the 2012- 13 season at$ 60 million versus$ 58 million. But once the NBA’s$ 24 billion TV deal kicked in, the league’s cap soared. It will be$ 140 million next season, up 141 % since the 2012- 13 season, the NHL gain is 47 %. The NFL cap increase is 111 %, up from the previous level.
In July 2020, the NHL and NHLPA reached a four- year CBA extension to run through the 2025- 26 season. It set escrow levels at 20 % during the 2020- 21 season to help recoup the debt owed to owners. Escrow was 17 % during the 2021- 22 season, 10 % the next season, and now 6 % for the final three seasons of the CBA.
Although historically, the majority of the escrow has been returned to the teams to ensure a 50/50 split of HRR, players could now expect to see the majority or even all of the escrow refunded when final accounting is finished. However, the NHL’s business has been so strong during the 2023-24 season.
For the 2005- 06 season, players received an extra 4.6 % in their paychecks, due to surplus revenue, and a slightly higher rebate during the 2007- 08 season, but escrow has typically been lost money for the current crop of NHLers.