NHL announces record change ahead of 2028-29 season

Hockey fans are used to hearing about cap hikes by now, but this one is on a different level entirely.

According to insider Elliotte Friedman, the ceiling that sits at $104 million this season is projected to climb to $113.5 million for 2027-28, then take another massive leap to $127.5 million the year after that.

A $14 million single season bump would blow past anything the salary cap era has produced since it started back in 2005.

Revenue is driving all of it. League income has been setting records year after year, fueled by new media deals, gate receipts, sponsorships and a betting boom that has completely changed how hockey makes its money.

Once revenue rises, the cap has to follow, and right now the growth curve is steeper than anyone expected even a year ago.

That post from BR_OpenIce, citing Friedman, lays out the full three year path and it is a lot to take in.

Front offices that were already budgeting cautiously now have to plan around a cap that could be nearly $40 million higher than it was just three seasons earlier.

For general managers, this changes everything.

Contracts that look expensive today could look completely reasonable in two or three years once the ceiling rises this much.

Teams sitting near the cap now might suddenly have real flexibility, and stars set to hit free agency around 2028 could be negotiating against a completely different market than the one players face today.

Buckle up, because the next few years of NHL business are about to get very interesting.

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