Bettman: NHL salary cap may get bump for '23-24 season

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL salary cap could get its first big increase since before the pandemic sooner than expected.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said there’s a chance players could be finished paying off what they owe owners from pandemic revenue losses as soon as this season, which would mean the cap going up $4 million or more next summer.

Initial projects were for another modest $1 million bump and a bigger increase in the summer of 2024, but there’s now more optimism about 2023 after Bettman said the league generated $5.4 billion in hockey-related revenue last season.

“Revenue’s pretty vibrant,” Bettman said Tuesday after a meeting of the NHL’s Board of Governors. “The business is good, and so things are looking possible for (players’ debt) being paid off this year. If we miss it, it’ll be close and it’ll be next year.”

The league and union agreed to keep the cap flat coming out of the pandemic and use escrow payments to make up for what players owed owners to split revenue 50/50. That meant the cap staying at $81.5 million for two seasons before going up to $82.5 million this year.

With new U.S. media rights deals and other revenue streams flowing, it could be over $86 million in the not-too-distant future.

WORLD CUP QUESTIONS

Discussions continue between the league, NHL Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation over hosting a World Cup of Hockey in February 2024. Bettman conceded the parties involved are running out of time to meet that timeline.

“We’re getting close to whatever that deadline is,” Bettman said. “We’ve got to be a position in the foreseeable future to wrap up all the issues, otherwise it would delay the World Cup.”

Among the ongoing issues is what to do with Russia, given the war