How about a Friday morning bomb from the NHL and NHLPA, Blackhawks fans! A memo sent by both parties this morning outlines the salary cap expectations for the next three seasons. That’s significant because the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2025-26 season (this is good news in that regard).
The numbers are… wow.
As a reminder: this year’s salary cap upper limit (aka ceiling) is $88M after a $4.5M increase from last season. That means, in a four-year window, the lower limit (aka floor) will be higher than the cap ceiling was for the 2023-24 season!
“Both clubs and players have sought a certain level of predictability with respect to payroll ranges from year to year and over time for advance planning capabilities,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic. “In reviewing our numbers with the Players’ Association as part of our collective bargaining, we finally felt like we were in a position to give them that. It’s not ‘absolute certainty,’ but maybe it’s the next best thing.”
What does this mean for the Blackhawks?
Well, first of all, it’s both good and bad.
If the Blackhawks want to go to market and spend big on a significant free agent (Mikko Rantanen, Mitch Marner) this summer, there will now be more teams potentially involved. Which isn’t ideal.
But the ceiling moving that quickly might make a general manager with fewer long-term obligations more comfortable going to a higher number (like, say, $15M) per season on a player of that caliber. The Blackhawks have very few significant obligations beyond the next two years… for now.
I say for now because Connor Bedard can begin officially negotiating his second NHL contract on July 1, 2025.
The other reality is that a big contract with term is now significantly more tradeable than it might have been six months ago (cough, Seth Jones, cough). Jones’ $9.5M cap hit would take up only 8.3 percent of the cap ceiling during the 2027-28 season.