In what can be considered a break for NHL clubs, the salary cap for the 2015-16 season was raised to $71.4 million per club from $69 million last season. This puts three teams (Montreal, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay) near the ceiling but under it, and nine teams underneath the new floor, which is $52.8 million.
The interesting thing is that the NHLPA agreed to the full cap inflator of 5%, as there was speculation they wouldn’t do because it meant more money was coming out of their checks and placed into the escrow system. But with more cap room comes more certainty for players as to whether they will be able to stay with their old clubs, and how fast other players can find new ones. There will still be players who will be cap casualties (Patrick Sharp, perhaps), but the total chaos of a cap that would stay around $69 million has been avoided. So even though more money will go into escrow, everybody wins out with this higher cap in the long run. The league is healthy and the players will have more job security.
The team that benefits the most out of this might be the Nashville Predators. They’re under the floor and must spend to reach the minimum. But they’re a playoff team with a good coach that players looking for a contract might want to play for. They’re at a big advantage over other teams under the cap such as Arizona or Buffalo … the former being a lame duck franchise and the latter in total rebuilding mode.
