<p>NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says his “very preliminary” projection for the league’s salary cap for the 2024-25 season is “$87 to $88 million,” after a Board of Governors meeting <a href="https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1709674140066607211?s=46&amp;t=cV9QOP3SCFUcrBufBfPUaA">on Wednesday</a>.</p>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">At <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHL</a> Board of Governors meeting in New York, commissioner Gary Bettman says “very preliminary” projection of salary cap for 2024-25 is “$87 to $88 million.”</p>
<p>— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) <a href="https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1709674140066607211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1709689865875358162">Bettman also said</a> the escrow debt owed to the owners from the players is down to approximately $50 million, and will be paid off this offseason. </p>



<p>The league’s salary cap is $83.5 million for the 2023-24 season. A bump of $4 million would be the biggest single-summer increase for the league’s cap since a $4.5 million increase before the 2019-20 season. </p>



<p>The cap has been mostly flat since 2020-21 because the players have been paying off the escrow balance they incurred in 2019-20, due to the COVID-19 pandemic pausing the season and all hockey-related revenues (HRR). </p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="165"></div>



<p>However, the players were still being paid, giving them more than the 50 per cent share of HRR allotted to them under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.</p>



<p>The NHL and NHLPA negotiated to spread the debt over several years, with the original projection it would be paid off after the 2023-24 season. </p>



<p>During a Board of Governors meeting in Palm Beach <a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-salary-cap-to-be-discussed-at-board-of-governors-meeting-338703530">in December 2022</a>, Bettman said the salary cap for 2023-24 could increase by $4 million if the debt were paid off sooner. However, the sale of the Ottawa Senators was not completed before the end of the 2022-23 season. </p>



<p>Several big names are slated to be free agents after the 2023-24 season, including Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, Florida Panthers’ forward Sam Reinhart, Maple Leafs’ forwards William Nylander and Tyler Bertuzzi, Winnipeg Jets’ forward Mark Scheifele and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="146"></div>
