The NHL has had thrilling matchups night in and night out because of parity.

Not only is the race to the Stanley Cup extremely competitive, but even the squads in the basement can pull off upsets during the regular season.

As the NHL’s salary cap is expected to rise to more than $100 million in the next two seasons, with no levelling-out in sight, there are intriguing questions to ponder – namely, are we going to see all 32 NHL teams spending to the upper limit, or will there be more teams with their own internal budget to abide when deciding how to move forward financially? And will the rising salary cap hurt parity?

According to PuckPedia, eight teams – one-quarter of the league – are hanging onto at least 10 percent (or $9.55 million) of their cap space right now.

Led by the Anaheim Ducks (which have $20.54 million in cap space), San Jose Sharks ($19.74 million) and Chicago Blackhawks ($18.66 million), there are a slew of teams that appear to be on their own internal budget, as opposed to spending to the cap ceiling.

The other five teams with significant cap space are Columbus ($15.57 million), Calgary ($15.41 million), Pittsburgh ($13.05 million), Detroit ($11.99 million) and Carolina ($10.64 million).

Clearly, more than a few of those eight teams are in a rebuild, and spending to the cap wouldn't make much sense.

Only the Hurricanes are a lock for the Stanley Cup playoffs in the coming season. While the Penguins and Red Wings are hopeful of making the playoffs in 2025-26, seven of those eight squads could likely miss the playoffs.

It’s obvious that many NHL GMs are very cognizant of their financial predicaments, and those teams don’t view spending to the cap ceiling as a cure-all for all their issues.

Meanwhile, other teams are hanging hard onto their cap space, including those that fully intend on being playoff teams in 2025-26. The Ottawa Senators are one such team, with owner Michael Andlauer and GM Steve Staios speaking about being careful how they spend all of their money.

“We’re a small market team,” Andlauer told Sportsnet in June. “We did well in the playoffs with our gate, but some teams did two-and-a-half times more revenue than we did. So, it gives you a perspective of where (hockey related revenue) is and where we fit in. I'm OK with that. I think we'll be competitive.”

Added Staios: “I think I have an idea in mind that it's probably not going to be up there (to the top of the cap space limit).”

It’s savvy cap management to leave yourself with a decent amount of cap space at the start of every season. By not spending to the upper limit, you give yourself some semblance of insurance that can help you guard against the injury bug and/or underwhelming performances.

If you’re a rebuilding team, the last thing you want is to tie yourself down with big-market gamble after big-market gamble. You can only buy out so many contract mistakes before you’ve completely hamstrung yourself as a team, and that’s why GMs like Staios are erring on the side of caution when it comes to their spending habits.

That said, with the cap ceiling potentially rising to $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million in 2027-28, the NHL's parity likely won't be as strong. Teams’ internal budgets will start to stand out to even casual fans, and there will be a tipping point of sorts that starts to put pressure on just about every team to get close to or at the upper ceiling.

You don’t have to throw all your money at players to make yourself a playoff team. Before and during the NHL’s Cap Era, there have been financially frugal teams that succeed without spending more than their rivals. Savvy drafting and development can give you a true Cup threat, and that’s not going to change as the upper ceiling continues to skyrocket.

Nevertheless, today’s hockey fan is acutely aware of the business behind each team, and making excuses year in and year out about not spending to the cap ceiling eventually will draw the ire of some fan bases. If you’re going to retain talent and acquire proven talent who came up in another team’s system, you’re going to have to spend healthy sums of money. Teams that choose not to do so will sooner or later stick out like a sore thumb.

So while there’s no urgent pressure on the eight teams that have at least 10 percent of their cap space still saved up, they're also on a clock of sorts – and sooner or later, they’re all going to have to pony up millions to keep pace with their rivals.

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