May 14, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner (16) skates against the Florida Panthers during the third period of game five of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

NHL Spending Stays Flat Despite Rising Salary Cap

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI | By Jacob Punturi | Last updated Aug 22, 2025 3:00 PM ET

This summer has been one of the most boring offseasons in recent NHL memory. Despite the two sides coming to an earlier than expected agreement on the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, an agreement that sets in stone a continuous rise in the league salary cap, the first summer after the agreement has been slow going and mostly uneventful.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, however. The free agent class was supposed to be loaded, and the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were set to lose multiple key pieces. Instead, the Panthers pulled off some sort of wizardry to keep all three of their big pending free agents (Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand) and dry out the open market.

That’s just the new normal in the NHL, according to a recent article from Jim Biringer for RG. The reporter spoke with sources inside the league including an anonymous NHL executive, who informed him that teams taking care of their pending free agents might be more possible and more common moving forward due to the rising salary cap rather than increasing the players headed to market.

”Teams will do a good job of locking up their own players," the source told Biringer.. "Everybody in the league, except for a few teams, had a lot of cap space, and I think going forward, if you like a player, there's no reason why you wouldn't try to keep them yourself."

This past summer illustrated that new trend perfectly. In addition to the Panthers retaining their top three, the Columbus Blue Jackets managed to extend forward Dimitri Voronkov in addition to defensemen Dante Fabbro and Ivan Provorov. Both defenders were poised to cash in if they hit the open market, but like the Panthers, the Jackets made sure they locked up their important blue line depth. The Vegas Golden Knights orchestrated a sign-and-trade for Mitch Marner to keep him away from free agency.

"Sometimes teams look to make these changes, but sometimes it's better not to make many changes and keep the guys you believe in because they know their character, work ethic, and how they get along with their team,” the source said. “It makes more sense than going out and getting something that you're not sure about.”

It’s a strange phenomenon in the NHL. Many teams have cap space, and next summer the entire league will have even more. Will that lead to more big-ticket deals in free agency? Or, will teams just be given more resources and space to keep their best players around?

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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