Report: Projected salary cap increase expected to be discussed at NHL Board of Governors meeting

When the NHL’s Board of Governors convene for the 2nd day of the league’s annual meetings in Florida today, a significant increase to the salary could be in the discussion topics.

Frank Seravalli was in attendance for the first day of the meetings on Monday and reports that the cap could be rising significantly, mentioning a possible increase of nearly $4.5 million.

The cap has been frozen for the past three seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the related impact such as league shutdowns, travel restrictions, and attendance limitations.

During Monday’s meeting, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that it appears that things are in the same position as they were when the board was last updated six weeks ago.

“I don’t want to get ahead of what we’re going to tell the Board, so there’s not a whole lot I can say there, but what I’ve suggested is we’re only six weeks after the last update we gave to the Board,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Monday. “Our finance department has gone back to the clubs and gotten revised projections and estimates, but they aren’t materially different than what they were six weeks ago. So I think we’re kind of in the same position with respect to what we’re going to be telling the Board tomorrow.”

A significant increase would certainly be beneficial to a team like the Penguins, who spend to the max every year, as they should, while the Crosby, Malkin, and Letang era will only last so long.

Stay tuned for more updates coming out of the annual meetings and what this might mean for the salary cap.