Report: NHL salary cap expected to jump to $75 million

The NHL salary cap is expected to jump up to $75 million for the 2017-18 NHL season. It is certain that it is going up, but how high it jumps is entirely up to the NHL Players’ Association executive board.

The NHL salary cap will be making a jump for the 2017-18 season, that much is certain. Where it ends up landing is going to be determined by the NHL Players’ Association executive board, depending on how much of an escalator they choose to use.

James Mirtle, editor-in-chief of The Athletic (Toronto) originally reported the news this morning. The news stated that the salary cap is jumping to at least $74 million for next season, if the NHLPA decide to not use any escalator. The NHL salary cap could jump as high as $77.5 million with a full escalator, but that is highly unlikely to happen.

The most likely option is that the salary cap will have a small escalator, pushing the number to $75 million for the 2017-18 NHL season. This will be great news for the one team currently above the original projection of $73 million, the Chicago Blackhawks. Originally $4.5 million over the projected cap space, this jump in the NHL salary cap will see them sitting only $2.5 million over. And with the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft happening in one week’s time, this will push them even closer to the cap, making their lives immensely easier.

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The jump to $75 million for the NHL salary cap will give multiple other organizations a good deal of breathing room as well, making it easier to re-sign their restricted and unrestricted free agents. As is always the case, with the NHL salary cap making a jump, so too will the cap floor. This could make for some interesting news in regards to the Vegas Golden Knights making trades to acquire players with larger cap hits, like David Clarkson from the Columbus Blue Jackets.