Frank Seravalli will have a full recap of today’s GM meetings later today on sportsnet.ca, but a quickie blog on one additional item from Tuesday's meetup.
The NHL and NHLPA will meet in the new year to discuss the possibility of “smoothing” the salary cap over the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons.
Under the current three-year agreement — which concludes at the end of next season — the salary cap for 2027-28 will be $113.5 million. At September’s Board of Governors meeting in New York City, the league provided a preliminary estimate of $127.5 million for 2028-29.
What the league and players’ association could agree to is raising next season’s ceiling and lowering the 2028-29 number by the same amount. For example, if they decided to raise 2027-28 by $2 million to $115.5 million, they would drop the following year to $125.5 million. Again, there is nothing concrete at this time, just a willingness to discuss the issue over the next few months.
The NBA went through something similar after a major television contract jumped its cap from $70 million in 2015-16 to $94 million in 2016-17. After it was decided that summer created too much carnage, the latest CBA prevents any jump being larger than 10 per cent.
We’ll see what the NHL and NHLPA come up with, if both agree on a change.
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