Players, teams that benefit most from NHL's salary-cap increase: Why Connor Bedard is among biggest winners

The NHL informed of its teams on Wednesday of the 2026-27 salary cap figures, and as expected the cap is going to rise up to $104 million for next season. That will also be accompanied by a $76.9 million salary floor and a maximum individual salary of $20.8 million.

That is an $8.4 million increase from the 2025-26 season, and it is good news for a lot of teams and players around the league.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest winners.

The unrestricted free-agent class

Specifically, Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch and Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh. They are probably the top two players in an incredibly thin free-agent class.

While they may not be superstar-level players, there is still going to be an immense market for them. 

With a higher salary cap and a higher floor that teams need to reach, more money is going to burning holes in the pockets of general managers across the league.

The salaries these guys are going to get on the open market would have made fans lose their minds a few years ago. They still might. But do not be surprised if one, or both, exceeds the $10 million or $11 million mark per season.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are building something special. They already have one of the best young players in the NHL in Macklin Celebrini and a couple of other young stars in forwards Will Smith and Michael Misa. Now they have the No. 2 pick in the NHL after winning one of the two lottery drawings on Tuesday night, moving them from the No. 9 overall pick to the second spot. They also have the second-most salary-cap space in the NHL at $41.5 million going into the offseason.

That should give general manager Mike Grier a ton of flexibility to take a big swing at some serious impact talent this offseason.

While the free-agent market is week, the Sharks have the trade ammunition to land an established star to build around their young talent. 

They have a big need for defensemen, both in terms of quality and quantity. That should be the focus. 

Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks

Bedard is the one bright spot in Chicago, and he is eligible for his first big payday this offseason as a restricted free agent. It is a great year to be eligible for a pay-raise as the cap has taken a massive jump. Chicago has $40.2 million in salary-cap space and can pretty much hand Bedard a blank check and let him fill in the amount.

How high will that salary go?

Nashville Predators' next general manager

Current Predators general manager Barry Trotz is in the process of stepping back from the role, but a replacement has not yet been hired. When that replacement is hired, they are going to be stepping into a pretty decent situation, even though the current roster is average.

The Predators have a promising prospect pool, will also have over $28 million in cap space to spend, 11 draft picks in the first five rounds of the 2026 class (many of which can be used as trade chips) and almost no major players due for extensions. With nobody internally up for new contracts, that means all of that cap space is pretty much open money to spend on whoever they want as additions.

That is a nice clean slate to work with.