Team

Betting

CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA

NHL salary cap expected to rise to staggering $127.5 million in 2028-29: report

Photo credit: © Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

By David Quadrelli

Sep 25, 2026, 13:09 EDTUpdated: Sep 25, 2026, 13:21 EDT

Comments

The upper limit of the NHL salary cap is expected to rise quite steeply by 2028-29, according to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

According to Friedman, the salary cap will rise all the way up to $127.5 million in the 2028-29 season. Here is some of what Friedman wrote:

“The NHL gave its first estimate for the 2028-29 salary cap at this week’s Board of Governors meeting, and according to multiple sources, it’s a whopper — $127.5 million. (All figures in U.S. dollars.)… NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said revenue projections for this coming season are approximately $8.1 billion in mixed currency, obviously a key factor in the rising total. If the 2028-29 guesstimate holds, it would also be the largest season-to-season jump of the cap era, at $14 million.”

The NHL salary cap is already at record highs, as the league and the NHLPA are in year two of a three-season agreement that has seen the upper-limit rise to $95.5 million in 2025-26, $104 million this season, $113.5 million next season, and as Friedman reports, all the way up to $127.5 million in the 2028-29 season.

As a result, we saw a lot of big money handed out to young players this past offseason, and that doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon as we all adjust to this new landscape in the NHL. The Vancouver Canucks got in on some of that fun this offseason, signing 20-year-old defenceman Zeev Buium to a max-term eight-year deal at $9.38 million earlier this month.

Star players absolutely got paid this past offseason, with Macklin Celebrini signing a five-year contract worth $18.80 million in San Jose, Leo Carlsson signing for five years at $18 million with the Ducks, and Cale Makar setting a new AAV record thanks to an eight-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche that will see him paid $20.40 million annually.

The Future is Daily Faceoff Vancouver

The future of hockey coverage is bigger than one team, one market, or one platform. By bringing our local hockey brands together under Daily Faceoff, we’re creating a more complete hockey experience — one that gives fans the best of local passion and league-wide expertise, all in one place. The community remains at the centre. The experience is simply expanding as part of the next evolution of how we cover the game.

Welcome to Daily Faceoff Vancouver – Driven by hockey.