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NHL Salary Cap Increases by 5.39% for 2024-25 Season

Originally posted on On Tap Sports Net | By Jonnie Nonnie | Last updated Jun 8, 2024 10:20 PM ET

The NHL has announced its payroll stipulations for the 2024-25 season as the salary cap will rise to $88 million with a lower limit of $65 million. These changes mark an increase of 5.39 percent over the 2023-24 cap of $83.5 million.

The @NHL and @NHLPA announced today the Team Payroll Range for 2024-25: https://t.co/rJW3afGi4q

Lower Limit: $65.0 million
Midpoint: $76.5 million
Upper Limit: $88.0 million pic.twitter.com/JYnAFEPY39
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 8, 2024

This is the first significant NHL salary cap increase since the COVID-19 pandemic. The cap remained at $81.5 million for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons before small increases of 1.23 percent in 2022-23 and 1.21 percent in 2023-24, per CapFriendly.

Chicago Blackhawks Salary Cap Situation

The Chicago Blackhawks maintain a projected $53,910,000 salary cap hit as of this writing. General manager Kyle Davidson has plenty of space to work with this offseason to re-sign pertinent restricted free agents, i.e. Joey Anderson, and target free agents or trade pieces that will help Chicago meet the salary cap floor.

While the Blackhawks likely won't compete for a playoff spot in 2024-25, Davidson has made it clear that the on-ice product must improve as the team progresses in its rebuild. Doing so will require roster additions, especially among the forward group, and the Blackhawks are well-positioned to surround Connor Bedard with more offensive firepower.