According to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, the NHL salary cap is expected to rise by $1 million next season to $82.5 million after it has been flat the past two seasons due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Next year’s NHL salary cap ceiling is projected to be $82.5M.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 10, 2021
This would give the Washington Capitals $13,583,334 in cap space for the 2022-23 season at the moment with goaltenders Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek in addition to right-wing Daniel Sprong eligible to become restricted free agents on July 13. Defensemen Justin Schultz, Michal Kempny, and Matt Irwin can become unrestricted free agents after this season.
The news provides relief to teams up against the cap as they could have a little extra breathing room to bolster their roster next offseason.
Last offseason, teams have had to settle for trading quality players for little return to shave cap space and improve their roster such as the Vegas Golden Knights trading reigning Vezina Trophy winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for just forward prospect Mikael Hakkarainen, whose contract the Golden Knights terminated after the trade. They also had to part with restricted free agents they may have preferred to keep due to salary cap reasons.
By Harrison Brown
