MANALAPAN, Fla. -- The NHL salary cap is projected to be $92.4 million next season with the potential of it climbing slightly higher pending a possible negotiation between the League and NHL Players’ Association, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday.
This season’s salary cap is $88 million.
Bettman, speaking at the end of the two-day NHL Board of Governors meeting at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, also said the League is currently projecting $6.6 billion in revenues for this season.
“The cap under the current guidelines in the Collective Bargaining Agreement would go up 5 percent,” Bettman said Tuesday. “As we look at revenues, we’re going to have discussions with the Players’ Association about escrow levels and whether or not the cap can or should be tweaked a little more on an ongoing basis, but that’s something that we have to really work out with the Players’ Association and we’re having those discussions.”
Bettman said those discussions with the NHLPA could be done separately from upcoming collective bargaining discussions.
“I wouldn’t necessarily view the CBA as the only point in time that you can make adjustments,” Bettman said. “We might decide to make an adjustment and then deal with the CBA. We may decide to make it all part of the package. It’s a little more free flowing.”
The NHL and NHLPA have been meeting regularly, including as recently as last week, Bettman said. The current plan is for the two sides to begin formal discussions on a new CBA in February.
The current CBA expires in September 2026, but Bettman has said the hope is to have the new agreement finalized sometime in 2025, potentially before the Stanley Cup Final.
Bettman also indicated items such as a new schedule format and extending the salary cap into the Stanley Cup Playoffs could be part of collective bargaining discussions if they are topics of interest to each side.
“I don’t want to prognosticate on collective bargaining,” Bettman said. “We have a very open, constructive relationship with the Players’ Association right now. I find working with (NHLPA executive director) Marty Walsh and (assistant executive director) Ron Hainsey, as does Bill, very constructive, very professional, very cordial. So we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves and prognosticate as to what’s going to happen, although we hope to do this as quickly and as seamlessly as possible.”
Daly said the League has been in regular communication with the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation to finalize the NHL’s agreement with those governing bodies to have players participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
“We’re getting close,” Daly said. “We exchanged some more documents with the IOC and IIHF on Friday. I remain confident we’ll get there soon.”
Daly said the NHL recently received a positive update on the state of the construction of the arena that will be used for the Olympic hockey tournaments.
“They still are on track for an October completion, and they want to have a test event in December,” Daly said. “I know (NHLPA senior director of international strategy and growth) Rob Zepp had occasion to be there within the last two weeks. He said impressive progress.”
The League said last February that NHL players will participate in the 2026 Olympics pending agreements with the IOC and IIHF, with the intent of starting a regular rotation of Olympic participation and a World Cup of Hockey.
The NHL and NHLPA will hold the 4 Nations Face-Off with the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland competing in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20.
Daly said the League also still is working with the IIHF toward finalizing plans for a World Cup of Hockey in 2028. The Board heard an update on that progress this week.
There is no date set to announce plans for the World Cup.
“We had intensive discussions with them during the World Championship,” Daly said. “We’ve updated those discussions over time. We had a meeting with the IIHF in November in Toronto and expect to hear more back from them sometime hopefully before the end of the calendar year.”
In addition, the Board of Governors heard presentations from Rogers Sportsnet executives, including Tony Staffieri, the CEO and president of Rogers Communications, and Collette Watson, the president of Rogers Sports and Media.
The NHL’s Canadian media rights agreement with Rogers expires after next season and Bettman said the League and Rogers will begin an exclusive negotiating window Jan. 1.
“We thought it would be a good opportunity before we began those formal discussions that they have an opportunity to talk to the board and talk about their view of the world and our relationship,” Bettman said. “I think that was very well received.”
Shane Jacobson, the CEO of the V Foundation, spoke to the BOG about the first year of the relationship between the V Foundation and the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer Initiative.
“We’ve together done some really good work to raise consciousness and raise money for research,” Bettman said.
Michael Rubin, the CEO of Fanatics, the NHL’s official uniform outfitter, gave a presentation about the transition the League went through from adidas to Fanatics and how together they can continue to grow the League’s licensing business.
“We find ourselves in a very strong, good place coming off what may have been the best season we ever had last year,” Bettman said. “I think it was all good.”
